Patience
by RobzBeanie
Summary: **COMPLETE ** Bella knew better than to get involved with one of her patients. But then she met Edward. ** TASTE OF THE FORBIDDEN II CONTEST ENTRY, NOW EXTENDED **
1. Prologue

**Author's Note: **Thanks to moosals for pre-reading on short notice. Stephenie Meyer owns all characters.

This was an entry in the Taste of the Forbidden II contest. I wrote it in three days, just before the initial deadline. As written, it was a series of drabble-length chapters put together into a one-shot. I'm posting it now as it was more intended to be read.

* * *

I am shaking as I knock on my boss's door. I've been shaking since the moment his secretary, Gianna, poked her head into my office to tell me that Mr. Volt wanted to see me.

"Come in," a muffled voice calls.

Taking a deep breath, I slowly turn the knob, pushing the door open and stepping inside.

"Ah, Ms. Swan, please take a seat," the dark-haired, middle-aged man greets me.

I cross the room, sitting carefully on one of the leather-backed chairs in front of my boss's desk, smoothing my skirt as I cross my legs.

"Ms. Swan," he begins, "There have been some very serious accusations made against you. One of our security guards noticed you entering a patient's room after hours last Friday night. He described your appearance when you emerged two hours later as 'disheveled.'"

Mr. Volt stops talking, steepling his fingers together on the desk as he looks me in the eye. I swallow thickly, waiting for him to go on, but he just continues to stare at me.

Finally, too uncomfortable to remain silent, I nod my head. "It's true," I whisper.

"Well, then, Ms. Swan — you're fired."

* * *

**A/N: **There are nine chapters, plus the Prologue, to make up the one-shot. After that, the story will be continued, though it will not be a long story. Right now I think it'll be 12 additional chapters, but I only have four of them written, so that's subject to change. I plan to be done writing them in time to continue posting regularly several times per week, without a break between the chapters from the original one-shot and the new material.

Chapter 1a will be up on Friday.


	2. The Meeting, Pt 1

**Author's Note: **Thanks to moosals for pre-reading on short notice. Stephenie Meyer owns all characters.

Each "section" of the story has three chapters. This is part 1 of "The Meeting."

* * *

I'll never forget the first time I saw him. Dr. Banner and I had just begun the daily group therapy session at Eclipse, an alcohol and drug treatment facility that specialized in treating adolescents. Nurse Hale opened the door, apologized for interrupting, then explained that she was bringing us a new patient.

As he stepped out from behind the nurse's body, my heart skipped a beat. Nurse Hale — Rosalie — was supermodel tall, five-foot-eleven if my memory was correct. The new patient, whom she introduced as Edward Cullen, towered over her by a good few inches.

Mr. Cullen's tall frame was topped off by a head of messy reddish-brown, almost bronze, hair. I'd never seen anything quite like it. Nurse Hale pointed him toward the only open chair in the semi-circle — on the end closest to Dr. Banner.

As he took his seat, his head was down, eyes fixed at his feet. From what I could see of his face, he was extremely good-looking, with a strong jaw line and unblemished, pale skin. With the light scruff on his chin, he looked to be on the upper end of the age range that we treated at Eclipse.

"So, Mr. Cullen," Dr. Banner began, "Do you prefer Ed or Eddie?"

"It's Edward," he replied with a sneer, looking up for the first time.

I nearly gasped as his eyes slid from Dr. Banner over to me. They were a startlingly deep green, and they were staring directly into my brown eyes. I was wrong, he wasn't just good-looking — he was the most gorgeous man I'd ever seen in person. He could've easily been a model, or a movie star.

Shocked at my reaction to a _patient_, I pulled my eyes away from his and focused on my feet. Fuck, I had never felt this level of attraction to one of my patients — or any man — before.

For the rest of the group session, I tried desperately to keep my eyes, and my thoughts, away from Edward Cullen. Every time I glanced his way, his eyes seemed to be trained on me, and it made me uneasy. What if Edward was as attracted to me as I was to him? Nothing could ever come of that! He was very likely underage and I was a counselor at Eclipse — I didn't have my doctorate yet, like Bob Banner, but I had completed my Master's Degree a year ago. I was still trying to prove myself around the center.

When the group was dismissed, Nurse Hale came to retrieve Edward so that she could continue to show him around.

"What do you think of the new patient?" I asked Dr. Banner after they walked out.

"I'm not sure yet," he began. "My first individual counseling session with him is tomorrow morning. According to his file, he's the son of a doctor and an interior designer, grew up in one of the nicest suburbs around Seattle. There's nothing in there to explain what he's doing entering an alcohol treatment facility at the age of 17."

Seventeen. _Off limits, Bella_, I reminded myself once again.


	3. The Meeting, Pt 2

**Author's Note: **Thanks to moosals for pre-reading on short notice. Stephenie Meyer owns all characters.

Each "section" of the story has three chapters. This is part 2 of "The Meeting."

* * *

I'd been glad to learn that Edward was assigned to Dr. Banner for his individual counseling sessions. It was hard enough to control my reactions to him for the two hours per day that the group session met. He didn't speak often, but when he did manage to say something without sneering, I even found myself attracted to the sound of his _voice_.

I was being ridiculous, acting like an adolescent with a crush. My mom always used to say that I was an old soul, never really a teenager. Well, now it seemed that I was behaving like a 17-year-old girl, some eight years too late.

It was over lunch in the facility's cafeteria, about a week after Edward entered Eclipse, when I crossed paths with him outside of the group room for the very first time. I was seated at my table facing the cafeteria line when I noticed him filling his tray, and I couldn't stop staring at his long, graceful fingers plucking an apple from the bowl in front of him.

_My God, he was gorgeous._

As if I'd spoken aloud, Edward turned his head, looking straight at me. He smirked and then began walking in my direction.

"Is this seat taken?" he asked, tipping his head toward the chair across from me.

"Um, no," I replied, cringing at the sound of my own voice. I cleared my throat, quickly taking a sip of my water.

"So, Ms. Swan," he began in an irritatingly sexy voice, "What's your first name?"

"Ms. Swan is fine," I answered.

"But that's not what I asked."

I looked up at him, startled to see the green of his eyes so close to my own. I was momentarily dazzled into telling him the truth. "Um, it's Isabella — Bella. But you will call me Ms. Swan."

He smirked at me before picking up his sandwich and taking a huge bite. I tried not to ogle his jaw as he chewed.

"So, Ms. Swan, how old are you?" Edward asked in a sexy-as-all-hell voice.

"I don't think that's an appropriate question."

"Fuck appropriate."

I gasped at his language, glaring at him. He raised an eyebrow as he met my stare, challenging me.

"I'm 25," I answered quietly, hoping that my age would discourage any kind of inappropriate feelings he may have had for me.

Before Edward could ask me another too-personal question, Dr. Banner took the empty seat next to him, nodding at me as he sat down.

"I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" he asked with a smile. While the question seemed innocent enough, I worried that my colleague had overheard something.

"Not at all," Edward answered smoothly. "I was just asking Ms. Swan about her favorite band."

I narrowed my eyes at him, not liking the way he'd put me on the spot. "Um, Kings of Leon, I guess?"

"Not bad," he replied, nodding his head. "Maybe you're not so old after all."

I felt my face flush, turning back to my own turkey sandwich. As Dr. Banner tried to engage Edward in conversation, I tried to ignore him completely. The faster I finished my lunch, the faster I could get away from him.

I'd barely swallowed the last bite when I was up out of my chair. "Excuse me, gentlemen," I said quietly, before hightailing it out of there.

After group that afternoon, Dr. Banner stopped me. "Could I have a word with you, Isabella?"

"Um, sure," I replied nervously. Had he picked up on something over lunch?

"I couldn't help noticing the way Edward interacted with you at lunch today," he began. _Shit._

"He's been here a week and still barely speaks in our sessions. I was wondering about switching him over to you?"

"Um, what?" I replied intelligently.

"From the little I've been able to glean from him, I remind Edward of his father, which is not helping him to open up to me. You're much closer to his age, so perhaps you'd be a better fit," he explained.

I wanted to say no. I knew I _should_ say no. But I also wanted to make a good impression on Dr. Banner and my supervisor, Mr. Volt. "All right," I replied, hoping I didn't live to regret it.


	4. The Meeting, Pt 3

**Author's Note: **Thanks to moosals for pre-reading on short notice. Stephenie Meyer owns all characters.

Each "section" of the story has three chapters. This is part 3 of "The Meeting."

* * *

The next morning at ten o'clock sharp there was a knock on the door, before it opened and Edward peeked his head inside.

"Come in, Edward," I greeted him, trying to sound both professional and in control.

With a swagger befitting James Dean, Edward closed the door behind him and sat heavily in the leather chair in front of my desk.

"Good job," he said with a smirk once he settled in the chair.

"Excuse me?"

"Good work convincing Banner to switch me over to you."

I gaped at him, completely stunned that he'd think I would do something like that. Was my attraction to him that obvious?

"It was Dr. Banner's idea to move you," I responded. "He thought perhaps you could relate to me better."

"Oh, I'd like to have relations with you," he smirked.

"Mr. Cullen, I am your counselor, nothing more," I replied sharply.

"Touchy."

I knew it was totally unprofessional of me to even contemplate telling him this, but I needed Edward to cooperate. "Look, I'll be straight with you. I've only had this job for a year, and I'm still trying to prove myself. I don't want to have to tell Dr. Banner that I can't handle you, so if you can behave yourself, maybe we can help each other. _Talk_ to me. None of us is your enemy — we're here to help you."

I stared down at my hands, nervously twisting my fingers together as I waited for Edward to do… something. Anything.

"What do you want to know?" he asked quietly after a long silence.

I was so shocked by the question that it took me a moment. "Tell me about the first time you took a drink."

He grinned. "Well, I'm sure I was attached to my mother's breast at the time."

I rolled my eyes, sighing loudly. "Edward… you know perfectly well what I mean."

He nodded, running his fingers through his already-messy hair. "My first high school party."

"Go on," I encouraged him.

He shrugged. "Everyone else had a plastic cup filled with beer. It was expected of me."

"Did you like it? The beer," I clarified.

"No," he snorted. "It took everything I had not to spit it back out."

I smiled softly. "I think that was my reaction to my first beer as well."

"I nursed the same beer all night," he continued. "I just needed to have a cup in my hand."

"Why was it so important to you to fit in?"

"Who said it was?" he asked sharply.

"Well, _you_ did, though not in so many words. You said it was expected of you," I reminded him.

"Everybody drinks at parties."

"It's… common, yes. But you're the one who's in rehab, so we need to get to the bottom of how and why your drinking got out of control."

"It started to taste good after a while," he replied with a shrug.

"You're telling me that you're an alcoholic because beer tastes good," I deadpanned. "I think there's a lot more to it than that."

Edward shrugged again, staring at his feet.

"All right, time is almost up," I began. "We've made a good start, but if I am going to help you, you need to continue to cooperate."

"Maybe I would if I had some incentive," he replied with a lascivious grin.

"Incentive?" I raised my eyebrow.

"I'm a good boy and talk to you… you let me kiss you."

"Need I remind you that you are my patient, Mr. Cullen?"

"You think I don't see the way you look at me, Ms. Swan?" he smirked before standing up. As he stretched, his t-shirt rode up and I couldn't help noticing the sliver of pale skin between his shirt and jeans.

"Caught ya," he winked, before walking to the door.

The moment I was alone, I scrubbed my hands over my face, ending up grasping and pulling the hair on either side of my head. I most definitely needed to get a grip.

* * *

I'm making progress on the continuation from the one-shot. I have 10 more chapters so far.


	5. The Sessions, Pt 1

**Author's Note: **Thanks to moosals for pre-reading on short notice. Stephenie Meyer owns all characters.

Each "section" of the story has three chapters. This is part 1 of "The Sessions."

* * *

After two more days of Edward flirting with me and still not really giving me anything useful, I was getting very frustrated. A not-so-small part of me wanted to give him the incentive he was looking for, just so he'd talk, but I couldn't cross that line with a patient.

We sat at an impasse while Edward played with his fingers. His long, elegant fingers. "Your fingers are beautiful," I blurted out, immediately embarrassed by my lustful remark.

Edward smirked at me. "Talented, too."

I immediately felt my face heat up. _For God's sake, Bella, stop imagining what those fingers could do to you._

"I'm… I'm sorry?" I stuttered.

"Piano-playing fingers," he elaborated. "What did you think I meant?" he asked with a wink.

I knew that he knew exactly where my mind had gone, so I decided to run with what he said and ignore the elephant in the room. "You play the piano?" I asked carefully.

Edward nodded. "From the time I was five," he answered quietly. "Everyone always said that my long fingers were perfect for the piano."

"Are you any good?"

"I was."

I frowned. "You no longer play?"

"I stopped in middle school, when I couldn't take the teasing anymore," he said quietly.

"The other kids teased you about playing piano? Why?" I felt like we were finally getting somewhere.

"They said it was gay," he said bitterly. "They accused _me_ of being gay. I used to get beat up on a regular basis."

"Edward, I'm sorry," I replied sympathetically. "I know how cruel other kids can be. Did the teasing ever stop?"

"Yeah," he nodded, "Once I got to high school. For the first time in three years, I was in the same school with my big brothers. No one would dare cross them."

"Why not?" I asked curiously.

"They were popular jocks. Jasper was a junior, a star second baseman for the school baseball team, and Emmett was a senior linebacker on the football team. And he was huge," he added with a chuckle.

"So your brothers were able to keep the other kids from being cruel to you?"

"Yeah. And it was only because of them that I would be invited to parties."

"And you wanted to prove that you were as cool as your brothers, so you drank."

"So I drank," he answered quietly.

"This is great, Edward. Thank you for opening up to me. I feel like we're starting to get somewhere," I replied, unable to keep the excitement out of my voice.

Edward smiled at me — not a smirk for once, but a real, honest-to-God smile. And he was beyond beautiful.

"How about that incentive?" he asked, raising one eyebrow.

I shook my head, unable to keep from smiling at his persistence. Edward stood up, but instead of heading for the door, he came around behind my desk.

"Wh—what are you doing?"

One of those perfect, long fingers caressed my cheek. The gentle touch was like nothing I'd ever felt before. It was the first time we'd touched, and I felt some kind of electric current starting at my cheek and running throughout my entire body. When his finger moved on to my lips, I parted them involuntarily, sucking lightly when he pushed just the tip of his finger inside my mouth.

And just as quickly, it was gone. "I'll see you this afternoon, Bella."

When the door closed behind him, I let out the breath I'd been holding. I think that definitely qualified as "crossing a line."


	6. The Sessions, Pt 2

**Author's Note: **Thanks to moosals for pre-reading on short notice. Stephenie Meyer owns all characters.

Each "section" of the story has three chapters. This is part 2 of "The Sessions."

* * *

I'd steadfastly ignored Edward throughout the entire group session, rushing from the room as soon as it was over. And now it was Friday morning — and two minutes until his next appointment. To say I was scared shitless about what would happen once he walked through that door would be an understatement.

When he knocked, I barely had time to call out, "Come in," before he was in my office. And he didn't look happy.

"Why did you ignore me in group?" he asked angrily.

"Why do you _think_, Edward?"

"Are you afraid that everyone can see it?" he asked quietly, plopping into the chair.

"S—see what?"

"Us. See how much you want me. See what you do to me."

"What I do to you?" I couldn't help but ask, even though I was afraid of the answer.

Edward motioned to his groin, and I tried not to look, I really did, but my eyes were drawn to the bulge in his jeans. Why hadn't I noticed that before?

"Do you know I jerk off to images of you every morning?"

"Edward!" I shouted. "This… this is just not an appropriate conversation. Forgetting for a moment that you're my patient, you're underage!"

"Only for another week," he answered. "Not even a week. My birthday is next Thursday."

I sighed heavily, closing my eyes. I counted to ten before opening them slowly. "Fine, you're almost 18, but you are still a patient here at Eclipse. Any kind of sexual contact between counselors or nurses and the patients is strictly forbidden."

"I won't tell anyone if you don't," he replied with a wink.

I shook my head, sighing again. "Shall we get down to business? You're here to talk."

"I already told you everything."

"No, you didn't. What you told me yesterday was a great start, but I need to know how taking an occasional drink at a party morphed into full-blown alcoholism."

"My drinking isn't that bad," he scoffed.

"It was bad enough that you ended up here a week after graduating from high school," I retorted.

Edward closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I had to prove I wasn't gay," he said quietly.

"What? How on earth would drinking prove that? Gay people drink, too."

"Not by drinking," he explained. "By having sex with girls."

"Ok… but I'm not sure I follow." _Do _not_ think about Edward and sex, Bella._

"I had to have sex with girls to prove I wasn't gay. And I was… shy."

I couldn't help the snort of laughter that escaped me. "Wow, that was totally unprofessional," I apologized.

Edward shrugged. "Maybe it's hard to believe now, but I was very shy back then. Drinking gave me the courage to make my move. Eventually, I didn't really need it anymore, but I _needed_ it, you know?"

"You were addicted," I said quietly.

"Maybe. I guess. I couldn't function, couldn't do anything without having a drink or two first. A few drinks eventually led to a six pack. Or whatever I could get my hands on."

"How did you end up here, Edward?" I asked gently.

He took a deep breath and blew it out. "I got totally wasted at a graduation party and ran a red light on the way home, almost crashed into another car. Just my luck, a cop saw it and pulled me over. I was still underage, so the juvenile court decided to send me to rehab instead of charging me as an adult."

"They gave you one last chance to get your act together," I observed.

"Yeah."

"This is good, Edward, very good progress."

He smiled gently at me. And then in a flash, the cocky Edward I'd first met was back. "Can I have a reward now like a good dog?" he smirked.

I reached into the top drawer of my desk, pulling a Ghirardelli chocolate square from my stash, tossing it at him. He caught it easily, staring at it with his brow furrowed.

"Not quite what I had in mind, Bella."

"Ms. Swan."

"Bella," he countered, raising an eyebrow.

Setting the piece of chocolate on my desk, Edward stood up, walking around behind my desk as he had yesterday. He put his hands on the arms of my chair and stood there, looming over me.

I swallowed hard, waiting for him to make a move, trying to convince myself that it was part of his therapy — to prove that he didn't need alcohol to make a move on a girl — well, woman.

Slowly, Edward lifted one hand from the chair and reached out a finger to lift my chin. I stared into his eyes defiantly. Suddenly he reached down and pulled my legs as far apart as my skirt would allow, then placed one knee on the chair between my thighs. I looked down at his leg, then back up to his face, quirking an eyebrow.

Edward's hands grasped the back of my neck as he pulled me toward his lips. His very full, rosy pink lips. I wanted to object, but I was hypnotized by the green of his eyes.

Very gently, Edward brushed his lips against mine. He pulled back almost immediately, staring into my eyes as if daring me to protest.

I couldn't speak. I couldn't tell him to stop, because I didn't _want_ him to stop. I wanted Edward Cullen to kiss me.

And kiss me he did.

When I didn't object, Edward placed his lips on mine again. Just the hint of tongue sweeping across my lips was enough to cause me to open for him. He wasted no time in shoving his tongue into my mouth.

Suddenly, Edward removed his knee from the chair and pulled me to my feet as we continued to kiss passionately. Without my permission, my arms wound their way around his neck. It had been over a year since my last serious boyfriend, but that was no excuse for acting like a shameless hussy. When I felt Edward's fingers opening the buttons on my jacket, I put my hands on his chest, pushing him away.

"We can't do this, Edward," I said, breathing heavily.

"Don't deny you want me."

"Fine," I sighed. "I want you. But you're underage! That's not just losing my job — that's going to _jail_ if we're caught. We've got to keep it PG until your birthday." _Keep telling yourself that, Bella._

"And what happens on my birthday?" he smirked.

_All bets are off._ "Let's just wait and see."


	7. The Sessions, Pt 3

**Author's Note: **Thanks to moosals for pre-reading on short notice. Stephenie Meyer owns all characters.

Each "section" of the story has three chapters. This is part 3 of "The Sessions."

Posting a day early since it's short, and I don't want to update both of my fics on the same day.

* * *

After a very long weekend without seeing Edward, our sessions resumed on Monday morning. We had sort of an unspoken agreement — talk for the first 45 minutes, then make out. I tried to justify it to myself that Edward was really opening up and learning to understand how he came to see alcohol as a crutch.

Yeah, I didn't really buy that.

Whenever Edward would try to go a little further, to move beyond just kissing, I gently pulled his hands away from my clothing. Sure, I was already going to hell for this, but I just couldn't let myself cross the line to something that was actually illegal.

We'd made out a few times with me sitting on my desk, but Wednesday morning was the first time that Edward sat in my chair, pulling me onto his lap.

"God, I want you, Bella," he moaned, kissing along my jaw up to my ear. I gasped in pleasure when he sucked my earlobe into his mouth.

"Patience. Just… just one more day."

I was just coherent enough to bat his hands away as they attempted to push my skirt up my thighs. Instead, he moved his hands to the back of my head, undoing the pins that held my long brown hair in a work-appropriate updo.

"Fuck," he muttered as my hair came tumbling down over my shoulders. "You are so sexy."

I giggled like a schoolgirl. "No one's ever called me sexy before," I admitted.

"Well, then they're crazy. Because you. Are. Definitely. Sexy," he replied, punctuating each word with a kiss to my swollen lips.

"I'm not, Edward," I said seriously, pulling slightly away from him. I could feel his hard-on beneath my thigh and I needed to get away before I did something stupid. "I'm not… curvy, or blonde."

"I'd dispute the first part of that, but you won't let me under your clothes to touch your curves."

"Edward…"

"I know, I know… tomorrow. I was born at 1:18am, you know, so it's not even 24 hours from now."

"In the eyes of the law…"

"No one will ever find out, Bella — I promise you."

I stood up from Edward's lap, smoothing my skirt. "My next patient will be here in a couple minutes. I need to fix my hair that you ruined," I said, glaring at him.

"It was so worth it," he smirked. I shook my head.


	8. The Birthday, Pt 1

**Author's Note: **Thanks to moosals for pre-reading on short notice. Stephenie Meyer owns all characters.

Each "section" of the story has three chapters. This is part 1 of "The Birthday."

Since there was a question about it, I'll explain here for everyone. The age of consent in Washington is 16, as long as one of the parties isn't more than 60 months older than the other — which Bella is — then it's 18.

* * *

Five minutes before Edward's first individual session as a legal adult, and I was pacing my office. There was no denying that I wanted him as much as he wanted me. I couldn't actually have sex with him while he was still my patient though! Could I?

I startled when Edward knocked on the door. Before I could answer it, he was in my office, stalking toward me with a predatory look in his eye.

"Bella," he said teasingly as he placed his hands on my upper arms. "No more excuses — I'm legal now."

In a flash, he had me backed up against the wall, next to my tiny window overlooking the parking lot. He crushed his lips to mine, kissing me as if it was our last moment together. Both of us were breathing heavily by the time he pulled away.

"We're not having sex in my office." _Yeah, I didn't think that sounded convincing either._

Edward's hands moved from my ass to the buttons of my jacket, deftly opening them with those long fingers I craved so much. I helped him as he carefully pushed the jacket off my shoulders, tossing it onto my chair. I swallowed thickly as he pulled my silk blouse out of my skirt and began working the buttons.

"Fuck," he breathed as he pushed my blouse open, his hands going straight to my breasts. "Did you wear a front hook bra just for me?"

I slowly nodded, holding my breath as he opened the clasp.

"Your nipples are fucking perfect," he growled as he circled them with the fingers of both hands. I whimpered as he bent his head, taking my left nipple into his mouth.

"Oh God," I moaned when he switched to the other side.

I was so turned on that I could barely see straight by the time I felt Edward's fingers lifting my skirt up to bunch around my waist. As he hooked his fingers into the sides of my lace panties, he looked me in the eye, waiting for my permission.

_Ah hell._ I nodded, closing my eyes as I felt my panties being lowered to the floor. I stepped out of them, then moved my right foot to my left heel to toe off my black peep-toe pumps.

"The shoes stay on," Edward said gruffly, leading me over toward my desk. He helped me onto it and sat in the guest chair, scooting it closer to the desk.

"Lean back," he directed quietly, pulling my legs up onto his shoulders. I followed his instruction, though my desk was less than comfortable.

Three seconds later, I couldn't have cared less, because Edward's tongue was right where I was craving him. "Fuck," I cried.

"Shhhh, you don't want anyone to hear us, do you?" Edward smirked at me, but all I cared about in that moment was that his tongue was no longer working its magic.

I did try my best to keep quiet though, as he expertly worked me over. I nearly came the minute those talented fingers joined in. I squirmed and panted as Edward worked his fingers in and out of me while his tongue circled my clit relentlessly.

"Gonna… come… Edward," I panted, trying my damndest not to scream.

As my orgasm rocketed though me, I squeezed my eyes closed, feeling like Edward's forearms on my thighs were the only thing keeping me from flying away.

His tongue and fingers slowed as I rode out my orgasm, and I wanted to pout when he pulled away, grinning at me.

"That was…" I shook my head, "Unbelievable, Edward."

"My dick is pretty talented, too."

I sat up slowly, shaking my head again. "Not here, I told you."

"When then?" he asked quietly. "Oh, I know! You can come to my room tonight. My roommate was released yesterday, so I'm all alone."

I opened my mouth to speak, but then closed it again. This was so, so wrong, but my God, I wanted him. Fuck patience.

"Do you… do you have a condom?" I finally asked, resigned to the fact that I was going straight to hell.

His face fell as he looked at me. "I didn't bring my wallet when they dragged me here," he replied dejectedly.

"I don't carry condoms, so… I won't be coming to your room tonight."

"Will you get some for tomorrow night then?" he asked hopefully.

"Maybe… maybe we should wait until you're released. Just be patient a little while longer."

"But that's still like ten days from now! I can't wait that long to have you," he whined, grasping both of my hands in his.

I sighed. Truth be told, I didn't want to wait that long, either. Not to mention the fact that I was expecting my period around that time, which would delay it even more.

"Tomorrow night," I nodded.

Edward's glowing smile made me feel less like some kind of sexual predator. If anything, I was _his_ prey.

"Are you gonna make me take care of this in the shower?" he asked, nodding toward the huge bulge in his jeans.

Shaking my head, I slid off the edge of the desk and picked up my panties from the floor. Once I'd put them on and tugged my skirt down, I moved to the buttons on my blouse.

"No," Edward demanded, his fingers grasping my wrist. "I want to see those perfect tits."

"They're hardly perfect, Edward," I scoffed. "Barely B-cups."

"But they're perky and real," he shrugged, hopping up onto the desk.

Rolling my eyes, I carefully opened the button fly of his Levi's and reached inside. The moment I touched the warm skin of his cock, it hit me what I was doing. I closed my eyes, swallowing down my guilt, before pulling his very hard length through the hole in his boxers.

I sat down in the chair Edward had vacated, ogling what was quite likely the most perfect cock I'd ever seen in person. Well, ok, I'd only ever seen two of them before, so I didn't have a lot to compare it to, but I couldn't imagine anything better.

I slowly reached out and grasped the base of Edward's cock, before leaning forward to lick the head like a popsicle. Edward hissed, throwing his head back. I looked him in the eye, then put the head of his cock into my mouth, teasing him gently with my tongue. Taking a deep breath through my nose, I plunged the rest of his length into my mouth — or at least what I could fit. So I didn't exactly have deep-throating skills.

As I began to suck in earnest, I could feel Edward's hand on the back of my head, gently urging me along. Most of the hair style I'd started the day with had gotten messed up while Edward was going down on me, and he began combing his fingers through my hair.

Edward tilted my head with his fingers a bit so that I was looking him in the eye while I gave him what I hoped was the best blowjob of his life. No, I didn't have mad skills, but he was barely 18 — he couldn't possibly have been with experienced women, could he?

"Fuck, Bella, you are so sexy," he groaned. "You're gonna make me come much faster than I wanted to."

I hummed, loving the way his cock twitched. I wanted to give him every bit of the pleasure that he'd given me.

I made my best attempt at deep throating and nearly gagged — well, I wouldn't be trying that again anytime soon. Instead, I concentrated on the swollen head, tonguing the slit as he whimpered and panted above me.

"Now—Bella," he managed to croak before I felt him coming in long spurts down my throat. I swallowed quickly, then licked him clean before sitting back.

"Goddamn, I think I love you," he breathed.

What did he just say? No, he couldn't—Mom always told me not to trust anything a guy said after he just orgasmed.

"We'd better clean up," I said quietly. "I need to go brush my teeth before my next patient."

Edward laughed, tucking his cock back into his pants and jumping off the desk. "I love a girl who swallows," he whispered, kissing me chastely.


	9. The Birthday, Pt 2

**Author's Note: **Thanks to moosals for pre-reading on short notice. Stephenie Meyer owns all characters.

Each "section" of the story has three chapters. This is part 2 of "The Birthday."

* * *

_I will not let Edward distract me. We will spend time talking today. We will not have sex in my office._

Maybe if I could repeat those statements often enough, I'd actually follow through.

Edward entered my office without knocking promptly at ten o'clock. Before I could even register his arrival, he had me up out of my chair, showing me exactly how talented his lips and tongue were.

"Edward," I moaned when he moved onto my neck, "No making out today. We really need to talk — I have progress reports on all of my patients due to my supervisor by five this afternoon."

Undeterred, Edward continued dazzling me, his hands cupping my ass as he pulled me against his erection. "I mean it, Edward," I insisted, using my hands to push his chest back.

Edward sighed, then pouted, then finally nodded, moving around my desk to take his seat in the guest chair.

"Ok, Doc, shrink me."

I rolled my eyes. "First of all, I have at least a couple more years before I get my doctorate. Secondly, I am a counselor, not a psychiatrist."

"Whatever," he shrugged.

"I figured today we could talk about your sexual history."

"All in the name of counseling me, right?" he replied with a wink.

"Mostly," I admitted.

"Only if I get to ask you the same."

"If there's time," I agreed. Though I intended to make sure there wasn't. "So when did you lose your virginity?" I began.

"Do you want the exact date?" he smirked.

"Why the hell not." I had to admit, I didn't remember the exact date I'd lost _my_ virginity.

"February 7, 2010. I took a girl upstairs at a Super Bowl party."

"Were you drunk?" I asked. "Or had you been drinking at least?"

"Yeah, I was feeling pretty buzzed. She was kinda the school slut, so I knew she was a sure thing, but I was still scared shitless."

"And then what happened?"

He shrugged. "Everybody knew what we'd been doing, and all the guys congratulated me afterward. I felt… vindicated somehow."

"So, um…"

"Just ask, Bella," he smirked.

"Um… did this become a regular thing for you then? I mean, I may not have believed you when you told me that you drank because you actually like the taste of beer, but I assume you enjoyed sex."

"Not at first," he said quietly. "I mean, yeah, I enjoyed it. But back then my drinking was still pretty much limited to parties. I couldn't really go out and buy beer so I could chat up girls at school until I got myself a fake ID at the end of my sophomore year."

"And once you got the fake ID?" I asked.

"That's when I started to drink a lot more often, whenever I felt like I needed a boost of courage," he explained, picking at a loose thread on the bottom of his t-shirt. "I'd ask girls out when I saw them at the mall, or whatever. I could pretty much have sex on demand with the school sluts, but that wasn't what I wanted.

"I wanted a real relationship with a nice girl, and the girls I'd meet at the mall or the local fast food joints weren't always willing to give it up without going on a few dates first. But I couldn't date without getting buzzed, so most of those relationships didn't even make it to sex before the girls would dump me."

"Because you were drinking too much?"

"Yeah," he admitted shyly.

"And you didn't see that as a warning sign that maybe your drinking was out of control?" I asked, raising my eyebrow.

He shrugged, but remained silent.

"Edward…?" I prompted him.

"I blamed the girls for not knowing how to have a good time."

"Some guys, when they're too drunk, are unable to get erections," I observed. "Did that ever happen to you?"

Edward sat staring at his feet, the tips of his ears turning pink. Finally he nodded. "At the grad party," he whispered.

"Is your father an alcoholic, Edward?" I asked suddenly, realizing he needed a subject change.

Edward's eyes shot up to mine. "What? No."

I nodded. "I asked because alcoholism can be hereditary. Are there any other alcoholics in your family that you know of?"

"My granddad is dead now, but I can remember him always drinking hard liquor after dinner," he admitted. "And my mom's brother is an alcoholic."

"Then there's a good chance it's genetic," I agreed. "I think you're one of the unlucky ones, Edward. The vast majority of teenagers can drink at parties like you did and not develop an addiction.

"You know you can't drink at all once you're released, right? You can't handle it."

"I know," he whispered. "It's not like I craved a drink all the time though, or got drunk every night."

"And that's good, because it means your addiction is more mental than physical. I know Dr. Banner made notes in your file about some mild symptoms of withdrawal when you first arrived, so you _do_ have a physical dependency, but I think the mental part is going be the toughest thing for you once you're out in the world again."

"But you'll help me, right? I mean… we can keep seeing each other once I'm released?"

I sighed heavily, closing my eyes. "Not in a professional capacity, not if we're sexually involved. You'll need to attend AA meetings, of course, and if you feel that you need more counseling, then I'd be happy to recommend someone."

"But I trust _you_," he whispered.

"And that's great," I said softly, "Because we've made a lot of progress. But I can't be both your lover and your counselor. This is all ethically wrong as it is."

"I'm sorry," he whispered, hanging his head. "I know I'm pushing you do to something against the rules."

"Well, I'm not exactly following the code of professional ethics and saying no to you."

"Do you not want to come to my room tonight?" he asked quietly, seeming to hold his breath waiting for my reply.

"I shouldn't. I'm not sure my body is on board with waiting though."

"So you'll come?"

"I'll come," I nodded.

And with that, Edward was up and out of his seat. He quickly moved to me, helping me to my feet and hugging me close to him. "Thank you," he whispered, before claiming my lips.

We traded soft kisses back and forth for several minutes before Edward finally pulled back, leaning against the desk while he held both of my hands in his. He looked… serene, and I couldn't help smiling at him.

"Did you mean what you said yesterday?" I asked suddenly.

"I don't know," he giggled, "What did I say?"

"You said, 'I think I love you.'"

"Oh. That." I watched as the tips of his ears turned pink again. He was adorable.

"Would you be mad if I said that I think I _could_ fall in love with you?" he asked shyly.

Removing my right hand from his, I cupped his cheek, kissing him softly. "On the contrary. I'd be very flattered."

* * *

A/N: "Reason For Living" readers — I updated on Monday when FF was being a bear and not sending out all of the Alerts, if you hadn't noticed the new chapter yet.


	10. The Birthday, Pt 3

**Author's Note: **Thanks to moosals for pre-reading on short notice. Stephenie Meyer owns all characters.

Each "section" of the story has three chapters. This is part 3 of "The Birthday."

* * *

After turning in the week's progress reports, I left the facility to get dinner. Sitting alone at the cafe, I tried to talk myself out of going back later to see Edward. The only true negative I could see in just not showing up would be disappointing him. Well, my lady parts that hadn't had a man in over a year would probably curse me out, too, but it was disappointing Edward that tugged at my heart.

Throughout our two weeks of sessions, I'd stripped away that armor he wore, finding the sweet boy that he once was underneath. It was all a defense mechanism, meant to keep the bullies away, but over time, his true personality had gotten buried. I genuinely _liked_ the real Edward, and this wasn't just about physical attraction any more.

I knew that the nurses did their nightly room check around 9pm, so I went home for a while, changing clothes, before heading back to Eclipse.

The night nurse was shocked to see me but I explained that I had some paperwork to catch up on, then headed straight to my office. Once I was sure the coast was clear and the nurses were done with their rounds, I made my way down the deserted hallway toward the patient rooms.

Finding Edward's room in the men's hallway, I knocked lightly on the door before quickly opening it and moving inside before anyone saw me.

Edward was sitting cross-legged on his bed, watching _The Big Bang Theory_ reruns on TV. He was dressed for bed, in plaid lounge pants and a t-shirt, his hair in even more disarray than usual.

"Hey," I said quietly.

Edward smiled at me, wringing his hands together. "I didn't think you were coming."

"Sorry… I had to make sure the coast was clear after rounds."

He nodded, turning off the TV before unfolding his long legs and sliding off the bed. I took that as my cue to move forward, walking a few steps across the room and stopping in front of Edward.

"I like you like this," he said, fingering a lock of my hair. "Not that your professional clothes aren't sexy-as-fuck in that hot librarian kind of way, but you look good dressed casually."

"Thanks," I replied, ducking my head as I felt my face flush.

Edward leaned in, leaving a soft, lingering kiss on my lips. "Now that I've got you here, I'm scared," he whispered.

"Scared of what?"

"I need a drink," he replied with a humorless chuckle. "I've never… I've never had sex sober."

"We don't have to do this, Edward," I said, taking his hands in mine. "Just because I'm here, doesn't mean anything has to happen. If you aren't ready for this…" I trailed off, shaking my head.

"I want to be with you. I need to. If for no other reason than to prove to myself that I don't need alcohol to do it… Um, wow, that really came out wrong. What I meant to say was, I've been attracted to you since the first moment I saw you, and although we could wait until I'm released, I don't want to. It's a big test for me to do this without alcohol, something I need to get through before I'm ready to be sent back to the big bad world. But there is no one I'd rather be with than you, Bella."

"If you're sure…"

"I am," he nodded. "Will you come to bed with me, Bella?"

Smiling softly, I grasped the bottom of my top, pulling it over my head. Edward ran the tips of his fingers lightly over the swell of my breasts, and I could literally see his eyes darken.

"So beautiful," he whispered. He moved to the button of my capris, opening it before slowly pulling the zipper down. Once I was stripped down to my bra and underwear, I helped Edward with his t-shirt and pants, trying not to ogle his nearly-naked body too much. I went to remove his boxers, but he stopped me, pulling me into his arms for a passionate kiss.

As we kissed, I felt Edward's hands unhooking the clasp of my bra behind my back. He slowly pulled it off, tossing it onto the pile of our clothing on the floor. He whimpered as his hands came up to massage each of my breasts while we traded kisses.

At some unspoken signal, we pulled apart, removing our last remaining articles of clothing. I quickly took out the two foil packets that I'd stuffed into my pants pocket, then joined Edward on the bed.

"Only two?" he pouted.

I giggled. "I can't stay all night. The nurses think I'm here to do paperwork."

Edward rolled me onto my back, his torso on top of me, and kissed me until I was dizzy with lust. I moaned when I felt his fingers move between my legs, stroking me lightly. And when he pushed two long fingers inside me, I moaned even louder.

"Fuck, that is hot," he groaned. "But we're gonna get caught."

"You're just too good, Cullen," I chuckled.

He smiled for me, kissing me lightly before withdrawing his fingers and licking them clean. Reaching over to where I'd thrown the condoms, he opened one foil packet, expertly rolling the condom down his imposing length.

Edward took a deep breath, then rolled on top of me, fitting easily between my thighs. He kissed me deeply, stroking those fingers up and down my sides. I gasped as I felt his cock nudging at my entrance, then closed my eyes as he slowly entered me.

"God, Bella, you feel so good."

I pulled his head down to mine, kissing him with all I had while I raised my hips to meet his slow thrusts. I wrapped my legs around his waist, urging him forward. He may have only just turned 18, but the boy had skills, turning me into a puddle of goo in no time.

"Harder," I begged, when he finally dragged his lips away from mine to nibble on my breasts.

"Yeah?" he asked, as if I'd just told him Santa Claus was real.

At my nod, Edward pulled out, flipping me onto my stomach. He quickly entered me again — hard. I cried out loudly before I remembered that we needed to keep it down.

With his fingers squeezing my ass roughly, Edward fucked me until I forgot my own name. I finally had to put my hand in my mouth to keep my noises from getting out of control. Listening to Edward's groans and the sound of our skin slapping together was making me insane. And when I felt my orgasm rocketing though me, I bit the pillow, squeezing my eyes tightly shut.

"Oh God," Edward groaned, and I felt him twitching inside me as he came. Breathing heavily, he pulled out, rolling onto his side. He got up briefly to dispose of the condom in the bathroom before returning to bed, turning me onto my side so that he was spooned behind me.

I lay there with my eyes closed until I felt my breathing return to normal. I had most definitely been thoroughly fucked — and it was glorious. I really hoped he had an 18-year-old's recuperative powers so we could make use of the second condom.

I felt Edward place a gentle kiss on my shoulder. "Sex is a lot better sober," he chuckled. "That was… ok for you?"

"You were amazing, Edward," I gushed. "Really."

"When I get out of here… I want you to be my girlfriend, Bella."

I sighed, closing my eyes. "Not that I don't want to see where this goes, but do you really think it could work? What would we tell people when they ask how we met? What about when your parents find out where I work?"

"That's no one's business but our own," he replied stubbornly.

"I can't see your parents accepting this once they find out I was your counselor."

"Do they have to know that? Can't I just say that I met you here and asked you out when I left? I could tell them I had to work hard to convince you," he suggested.

"I don't know, Edward…"

"Please, Bella," he begged. "We'll worry about that when the time comes. My parents can't stop me from seeing you."

"No, they can't, but they could get me in trouble with my supervisor if they really wanted to."

"I won't let them," he vowed. "They'll see how happy you make me."

"Do I make you happy?" I asked quietly. "Tell me that I haven't made a huge mistake, Edward."

"It's not a mistake," he insisted, holding me tightly. "It doesn't feel wrong."

I turned my head and Edward captured my lips with his. In no time, I was lost; I wanted him again. The boy could kiss.

He didn't even leave my lips as he reached behind him for the second foil packet. He pulled away only briefly before sliding into me from behind and returning to my lips. Edward's tongue stroked my own while his hand massaged my nipple and his cock stroked my pussy, and suddenly I was right on the edge again.

His pace increased slightly and I fell, Edward's mouth swallowing my moans. I felt his own orgasm deep inside me, prolonging the shudders. When he finally slowed, he pulled his mouth away from mine and hugged me tightly. All too soon, he let me go, moving to the bathroom again.

"Fuck," I cried after glancing at the clock. It was nearly 11:30! Resigned, I sat up, feeling the delicious ache between my thighs.

"You're leaving?" he asked as he picked up his boxers from the floor.

"I need to, yeah. Believe me — I don't want to."

I quickly dressed, using the bathroom mirror to make at least some attempt at taming the mess my hair had become.

"We can do this again, right?" he asked when I exited the bathroom.

"I can't risk doing it _here_ again, but… when you get out," I nodded. "Just have a little patience."

Edward nodded in return, hugging me to him before giving me a sweet goodbye kiss. "I'll see you Monday morning," I whispered. I couldn't look at his face as I walked out of the room, for fear he'd see just how close I was to falling in love with him.

* * *

**A/N:** We've reached the end of the original one-shot! The continuation is 15 chapters plus an Epilogue, and will begin posting tomorrow (Easter Sunday).


	11. The Consequences, Pt B1

**Author's Note: **Thanks to moosals for pre-reading on short notice. Stephenie Meyer owns all characters.

This "section" of the story has six chapters: three from Bella's POV and three from Edward's. This is part B1 of "The Consequences." I will post alternating the POV.

* * *

"Good morning, Emily," I called to the receptionist as I made my way to my office on Monday morning after a shit-tastic weekend.

I had readily accepted when my best friend Alice invited me to go out to a hot new club with her on Saturday night. I'd been feeling like a first class heel since leaving Edward's room on Friday, and I may have had a little — or more than a little — too much to drink. Ironic, wasn't it?

Having never seen me drink like that before in the 20 years we'd known each other, Alice knew something was wrong. A part of me had wanted to confide in her, but how could I explain the serious breach of ethical guidelines? Alice wasn't at all judgmental, but I still couldn't do it.

I spent half of Sunday in bed with a hangover. I had no idea how alcoholics did this all the time.

A little after 8:30 on Monday morning, there was a knock on my office door.

"Come in," I called. I wasn't expecting my first patient until 9am.

My supervisor's secretary, Gianna, poked her head into my office. "Mr. Volt would like to see you before your first appointment," she said without even a hello, then she turned on her 4-inch heels and walked away.

She sounded… serious, and I immediately felt a huge lump in the pit of my stomach. I'd been certain that no one saw me going in or out of Edward's room on Friday night, but somehow I knew that was what this impromptu meeting was about. What if Edward had had second thoughts and reported me or something?

Shakily, I stood up from my chair, straightened my clothes and headed out into the hallway.

I nodded to Gianna sitting at her desk, then knocked on my boss's door nervously.

"Come in," a muffled voice called.

Taking a deep breath, I slowly turned the knob, pushed the door open and stepped inside.

"Ah, Ms. Swan, please take a seat," the dark-haired, middle-aged man greeted me.

I crossed the room, sitting carefully on one of the leather-backed chairs in front of my boss's desk, smoothing my skirt as I crossed my legs.

"Ms. Swan," he began, "There have been some very serious accusations made against you. One of our security guards noticed you entering a patient's room after hours last Friday night. He described your appearance when you emerged two hours later as 'disheveled.'"

Mr. Volt stopped talking, steepling his fingers together on the desk as he looked me in the eye. I swallowed thickly, waiting for him to go on, but he just continued to stare at me.

Finally, too uncomfortable to remain silent, I nodded my head. "It's true," I whispered.

"Well, then, Ms. Swan — you're fired."

"F-f-fired?" I stuttered.

"Yes, fired — unless you have a very good explanation for what you were doing in your patient's room so late at night."

"I… um, I… I was…" _Goddamnit, Bella, think!_

"Did you or did you not have some sort of _intimate_ relationship with Edward Cullen?" he asked pointedly.

"I… yes, I did," I whispered, my eyes stinging with tears of shame.

My boss nodded, picking up his phone. "Gianna, could you please ask Felix to come down here?" He turned back to me then. "I'll be making a call to the American Counseling Association to report this. You'll never work as a counselor again."

I gasped. Fuck, not only my job, but my entire _career_?

"Mr. Volt, I…" I began sobbing, unable to finish.

"I don't understand how anyone saw me," I muttered, mostly to myself. "I thought I was careful… I didn't see anyone in the hallway."

"You didn't know about the security cameras in the hallways?" Mr. Volt spoke up, raising an eyebrow.

Oh fuck. I had no idea there were hidden cameras. I buried my face in my hands, sobbing. There was absolutely no way out of this that I could see.

"What about Edward?" I finally whispered, sniffling.

"Mr. Cullen will be switched back to Dr. Banner for his last week here. He's an outstanding counselor, and I can only hope that he'll be able to repair whatever damage you've done," he said sharply.

Hearing that made me sob even harder. Oh god, no. Please don't let the fallout from our affair send Edward back to drinking. Anything but that. In that moment, I didn't care what happened to me as long as he was ok.

I looked up at the sound of the door opening. "Here is Felix," Gianna said. A large dark-haired man in uniform stepped into the office behind her.

"Thank you, Gianna," my now-former boss dismissed her.

"Felix, please take Ms. Swan to her office so that she can pack up her things and then escort her to her car. Make sure you get her security badge before she leaves."

"Yes, Sir," he nodded.

I was too stunned to move until Mr. Volt spoke to me again. "You may go, Ms. Swan."

Shaking like a leaf, I stood from the chair, following the security guard out of the office.

* * *

**A/N:** Next chapter, we'll hear from Edward!


	12. The Consequences, Pt E1

**Author's Note: **Thanks to moosals for pre-reading on short notice. Stephenie Meyer owns all characters.

This "section" of the story has six chapters: three from Bella's POV and three from Edward's. This is part E1 of "The Consequences." I will post alternating the POV.

* * *

I stood in front of the bathroom mirror for over ten minutes, trying to tame my hair into some sort of style. And when I finished, I messed it all up again. Bella liked me just as I was.

God, I was nervous. In just five minutes, I was going to see her again for the first time since Friday night. I had no idea what to expect. Would she be as happy to see me as I was to see her? Or would she regret what we'd done?

A knock on my door startled me from my third attempt at styling my hair. Taking a deep breath, I walked out of the bathroom to answer it.

"Edward," the pretty blonde nurse who'd shown my around on my first day greeted me after I opened the door. "I came to take you to your appointment."

"I think I know the way by now to Be—Ms. Swan's office."

Nurse Hale smiled softly at me. "Are you ready to go?"

Was she serious about this? Why did I suddenly need an escort? What the fuck was going on?

Closing the door behind me, I followed the nurse down the hall. When we reached Bella's office, she kept going, until we reached Dr. Banner's door.

"Why I am here?"

"Dr. Banner will explain," she replied, knocking lightly on the door for me. When I heard his muffled greeting, I pushed open the door and walked inside.

"What the fuck is going on?" I asked, my anger growing by the second.

"I see your language hasn't improved in the last two weeks," Dr. Banner replied, raising an eyebrow. I glared at him, waiting for him to answer me. "Take a seat, please," he finally directed.

"I think I'll stand."

"Take a seat."

Sighing, I sat heavily in the chair, hoping that the sooner I listened to him, the sooner he'd explain what the hell was going on.

"I will be your counselor for the remainder of your stay at Eclipse," the doc said carefully.

"What? No. I want to stay with Ms. Swan."

"I'm afraid that won't be possible," he replied, taking off his glasses and rubbing his eye. "Ms. Swan is no longer employed here."

I felt like my stomach had fallen all the way to my feet. Bella was gone? She regretted what we'd done so much that she _quit_ to get away from me?

I stared down at my feet, willing myself not to cry. I hadn't cried since I was 14.

"Edward?"

"She quit?" I whispered. "She didn't say goodbye?"

"Edward," Dr. Banner said again, and I looked up at him. He stared back, seeming to be studying me. Finally he nodded, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly.

"Ms. Swan didn't quit. She was fired."

"What? Why?"

"I think you know why," he replied, glancing at me over the top of his glasses.

"Because of me?" I whispered. He nodded slowly.

"No!" I shouted. "She didn't deserve that! It's not Bella's fault, it's _mine_. Blame me, not her."

"It doesn't really matter whose fault it is," he explained. "If you and… _Bella_, had some sort of intimate relationship, then she made a serious error in judgment. Our supervisor had no choice but to fire her."

"Let me talk to him — I'll explain everything," I begged.

"I'm sorry, Edward. You can't explain her way out of such a severe breach of guidelines."

"This is bullshit," I yelled, standing up. "It's my fault. Don't blame her."

"Sit, please," he directed quietly. "Why do keep saying it's your fault? Unless you somehow forced her to come to your room after hours…"

"I seduced her," I told him plainly. "I'd wanted her since the first moment I saw her, and I did everything I could to make her mine. Bella thought we should wait at least until I was released, but… I didn't want to."

"Even once you're released, a relationship between a patient and his or her former counselor is still forbidden, Edward."

I buried my face in my hands, squeezing my eyes shut as I tried to keep the tears stinging my eyes from falling.

"I read through Ms. Swan's notes in your file," Dr. Banner said quietly, though I refused to look up at him. "It appears that you really opened up to her and made a lot of progress. That's what I'd been hoping for when I suggested switching you over to her."

When I didn't reply, he spoke again, "Do you want a drink now, Edward?"

My eyes snapped up to his. "No," I said angrily. I wasn't some pathetic alcoholic who drank to numb his problems.

"That's good, I'm glad," he said sincerely. "I hope that these… unfortunate events don't lead to any sort of backsliding on the progress you've made. Ms. Swan — Bella — wouldn't want that."

The fucker knew exactly how to get to me. No, Bella wouldn't want me to start drinking again just because I'm the asshole who got her fired. Even though she likely hated me now, I would stay sober… for her.

* * *

**A/N:** Next chapter, we'll see how Bella's doing.


	13. The Consequences, Pt B2

**Author's Note: **Thanks to moosals for pre-reading on short notice. Stephenie Meyer owns all characters.

This "section" of the story has six chapters: three from Bella's POV and three from Edward's. This is part B2 of "The Consequences." I will post alternating the POV.

* * *

"Isabella Swan, if you don't open this door, I swear I'm going to break it down!"

Ugh, Alice. I'd been holed up in my apartment for five days with several pints of Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream, refusing to answer my phone.

With a sigh, I heaved myself off the couch and walked to the door, still wearing my t-shirt and pajama shorts despite the early evening hour.

"Oh my God," my tiny black-haired friend cried when she took in my likely scary appearance. "You look like you haven't brushed your hair in a week." That _would_ be the first thing Alice — a hairdresser — would notice.

Alice pushed her way past me into the apartment, standing there with her hands on her hips waiting for me to start explaining.

"I got fired, Alice," I whispered.

She gasped. "Oh my God, when? Why?"

"Oh Monday," I replied, running my fingers through my — ew, greasy — hair.

"Why would they fire you?" she asked again.

"Long story?"

"Go get yourself in the shower and I'll order us some Chinese. You can tell me after we eat."

With a nod, I followed her orders. I didn't think I really had a choice.

By the time I was decent again, our dinner had arrived. While we ate, Alice chatted away to me about the various customers she'd had this week, acting as if nothing was wrong. Once we'd rinsed our dishes and put the leftovers in the fridge, Alice dragged me by the hand to sit beside her on my couch.

"Spill," she ordered.

I took a deep breath before speaking. "I broke the rules and I got caught."

"Are you gonna make me guess which rules?" she asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"I slept with a patient," I admitted, hanging my head in shame.

"You WHAT?!" she yelled, loud enough that my entire building probably heard her.

I shook my head. "I know there's no excuse," I began. "But you should've seen him, Alice. Edward is the most beautiful man I've ever seen. I was physically attracted to him right away, though his personality left a lot to be desired. But as we talked, his real personality came out and I saw that he was just as beautiful on the inside as he is on the outside."

"Ok, but you actually had sex with him?" she asked in disbelief.

"Yes," I nodded. "Edward was attracted to me, too — and he could see the feelings I was trying to hide. He was definitely the aggressor, but I didn't stop him like I should have."

"Don't you usually treat young teenagers? How old is he?"

"Edward came to us a week after graduating from high school, but he didn't turn 18 until last Thursday," I explained. "I… I went to his room after hours on Friday."

"Well, at least you waited until he was legal, or this could've been a lot worse," Alice exclaimed. "Why the hell couldn't you have waited until he was released? Isn't it usually just a 28-day stay?"

"It is… and he'll be released on Monday. We just… didn't want to wait," I shrugged.

"What were you _thinking_, Bella?"

I shrugged again. "I wasn't, I guess. I really have no excuse, but it's over and done with. I can't take it back, as much as I'd like to."

"So what now?"

"I have no idea," I replied with a humorless chuckle. "I'll never work as a counselor again. It's all I've ever wanted to do, Alice — since I was 13 years old!"

Alice nodded sadly; she knew the story better than anyone — the story of how my Chief of Police father had been injured in the line of duty and ended up addicted to painkillers. He went away to rehab when I was 13 and came back a different man. The counselors didn't just make a difference in _his_ life, but in my mother's and mine as well.

"I guess the first thing you need to do is find a paycheck," she suggested. "It doesn't have to be permanent, just something so you can pay your bills next month."

"Yeah," I agreed quietly. I knew she was right. My apartment wasn't all that expensive, but I had student loans from my undergrad and graduate degrees at Western Washington University — not to mention the cost of the doctoral program I was attending.

* * *

**A/N:** Next chapter, we'll see how Edward is doing after his release.


	14. The Consequences, Pt E2

**Author's Note: **Thanks to moosals for pre-reading on short notice. Stephenie Meyer owns all characters.

This "section" of the story has six chapters: three from Bella's POV and three from Edward's. This is part E2 of "The Consequences." I will post alternating the POV.

* * *

A week after my release from Eclipse, I sat alone in my bedroom playing video games on my PlayStation 3. I was under fucking house arrest! Despite the fact that they'd destroyed my fake ID, my parents took away my wallet, phone, laptop and car keys. I wasn't allowed to leave the house except to go to my twice-weekly Alcoholics Anonymous meetings — escorted by one of my parents or brothers.

It was bullshit, total bullshit. I'd told them I wasn't going to drink any more, but no one seemed to believe me.

How was I supposed to talk to Bella and apologize, or even _find_ her, with no access to the internet? How was I supposed to find out if I still had a chance with her?

"Edward, dinner is ready," my brother Jasper called, knocking lightly on my bedroom door. With a sigh, I paused the game, set down the controller and headed downstairs.

I had to admit, my mom's meatloaf was one of my all-time favorite things, but just for show, I scowled as I sat down at the table.

It pissed me off to sit there and listen to everyone else sharing stories of their day. Emmett had gotten a job as a lifeguard at a local pool and couldn't stop talking about all of the "hot babes" that would go down there to tan and flirt with guys. Meanwhile, Jasper was playing in a summer baseball league.

Both of my brothers had gone out of state for college, so I should've been happy to have them home for the summer. I missed spending time with them — except I wasn't allowed to.

Jasper attended the University of Texas, having earned a baseball scholarship. His name was being thrown around as a possible draft pick with the chance of even making the Major Leagues one day. He wasn't just a jock though — Jasper had a double major of History and Education, hoping to be a high school history teacher one day if the baseball thing didn't work out.

Emmett had gotten a football scholarship to the University of Missouri, but a knee injury in his first year ended his playing career. He'd become a pretty good swimmer while rehabbing his knee in the pool. Emmett hoped to go into sports medicine, sort of following in Dad's footsteps.

And me, well, I'd been accepted to UCLA before everything went down, though I had no idea what I planned to study. After vacationing in Los Angeles a couple of times several years back, I'd just always wanted to go to school in SoCal.

"So, Edward, did you do anything exciting today?" my dad asked, startling me from my thoughts.

"I killed a few hundred bad guys on my PlayStation," I sneered.

"Edward," my mom said in a warning voice.

"What do you want me to say?" I asked angrily. "You guys won't let me go out and do anything fun, enjoy the summer."

"You're free to enjoy the pool in the backyard," she replied.

"Sure, all by myself, since you won't let me have any friends over."

"Edward," Dad began, "We just don't want to take any chances that one of your friends could bring you alcohol."

"So search them when they get here! I'm not gonna ask anyone to bring me a drink. I don't want a drink," I insisted.

"How about if I bring Edward with me to the ballpark tomorrow?" Jasper suggested quietly. He was always the one who tried to make peace in the family.

"Do you think you can keep an eye on him?" Mom asked.

"I don't need a fucking babysitter," I grumbled.

"Language, Edward," Mom said sharply.

"He'll be fine, Mom," Jasper promised.

The next day, Jasper took me down to the baseball field so I could "help" him practice. I took a few swings with a bat in the batting cage to warm up , but I was still officially terrible. It seemed that I'd been born with none of the athletic ability that my brothers had. Using a pitching machine, I did my best to hit ground balls to second base so that Jasper could practice his fielding, but I really didn't think I did much to help him.

Around noon, we left the practice field, heading to a diner for burgers before Jasper's 3pm game. "So, tell me how you're really doing, Ed," Jasper said quietly after we'd ordered our lunch.

"I'm fine," I insisted. "Just bored."

Jasper gave me a half smile. "Mom and Dad mean well," he said.

"Please, Jazz, can't you get them to let up on me a bit? At least let me have my computer back. Or my phone."

"I'll see what I can do," he replied. "I'm so sorry, Ed," he whispered.

"Sorry? For what?"

"I was the one who got you invited to those parties. I stood by and watched as you took your first drink," he said, his voice cracking a little. "Emmett feels awful, too. We were both too caught up in our own lives to see how bad things were getting for you."

I shook my head. "You didn't miss anything. You and Emmett were gone before I really started drinking more often. And I was pretty good at hiding it when you guys were around," I admitted.

"And that's why Mom and Dad are so scared _now_. You really had us all fooled, and I think they're just afraid that they won't see the signs if you start drinking again. They feel just as responsible as Emmett and I do."

"I won't start drinking again. I don't need alcohol anymore. I promise."

"Just be patient — give us all time to start believing in you again."

* * *

**A/N:** Next chapter, we'll see how Bella's job hunt is going.


	15. The Consequences, Pt B3

**Author's Note: **Thanks to moosals for pre-reading on short notice. Stephenie Meyer owns all characters.

This "section" of the story has six chapters: three from Bella's POV and three from Edward's. This is part B3 of "The Consequences." I will post alternating the POV.

* * *

"Oh my God, my feet are killing me," I complained while sliding into the booth across from Alice at a local Mexican restaurant.

"Hello to you, too," she replied sarcastically.

"Sorry," I replied, giving her a small smile. "The back to school sale is kicking my ass."

After a disastrous two-day stint as a waitress during my first year of college, I'd worked retail part-time for the next six years to support myself. When I needed a new job quickly, that was the first thing I'd thought of, and I was thrilled to be hired by a department store after only my second interview. The first several weeks had gone fine, but everyone had been working long shifts since the back to school shopping season started.

"A year sitting on your ass in a cushy desk job has made you soft," Alice criticized. "What about me? I'm certainly on _my_ feet all day every day."

"But your boss knows this and lets you wear comfortable shoes," I grumbled.

After we ordered our drinks, Alice folded her hands together, elbows on the table, and rested her chin on her hands. "So," she began, "I have a real job opportunity for you."

"What do you mean by 'a real job'?" I asked, adding the air quotes for emphasis.

"I mean something that fits with what you spent six years of your life studying."

"Alice, I told you, my career is over," I sighed. "My supervisor planned to make sure I never work as a counselor again."

"Your degree is more broad than counseling though, isn't it? Your undergrad was in Psychology," Alice replied.

"What exactly are you thinking, Alice?"

"Do you remember the old expression? Those who _can_, do. Those who _can't_, teach."

"You think I should _teach_?"

"Well, yeah, why not? You worked as a TA when you were getting your Master's, didn't you? I talked to my dad, and he thought they were still looking for someone to teach a couple of the more entry-level psychology classes for the Autumn quarter."

Alice's father, Ted Brandon, was the head of the University of Washington's College of Education. Alice and I had grown up together in the small town of Forks, on the Olympic Peninsula, while her dad taught at Peninsula College in Port Angeles. Once he'd completed his doctorate, he moved on to the position in Seattle and Alice moved away for her last two years of high school.

"Don't you need a doctorate to teach there?" I asked, thinking of Alice's dad.

"Well, yeah, it's usually required to be a full-time professor. But Dad said they'll hire adjunct professors to teach part time with just a Master's. What do you think, Bella?"

"I… I don't know. I mean, I guess it's something I could do, if they'd be willing to hire me. I don't know how to explain why I'm not working as a counselor any longer, though. And it's not like I could ever list Eclipse on my resume as a reference!"

"Ooh, yeah, well, that could be tricky," she admitted. "I'll ask my dad what he thinks."

"Wait — you didn't tell your dad what happened, did you?" I asked, horrified.

"No, no, I never gave him specifics, just that it didn't work out for you. I might have to provide a little more detail though, to really get his advice."

I nodded my acquiescence, but I wasn't thrilled about it. I was ashamed of my behavior earlier this summer, and I hated the thought of Alice's dad judging me for it.

I judged myself enough.

"Have you tried to find out any information on Edward?" Alice asked while we were sharing a dessert of fried cheesecake thirty minutes later.

"No, I haven't," I replied quietly. "I'm just… too ashamed to try to call Dr. Banner to ask if he knows anything."

"Have you tried to find Edward yourself? Get his phone number or something?"

"God no, what if he hates me? What if he realizes just how bad my behavior was and feels like I… I don't know, took advantage of him or something?"

"I thought you said _he_ was the aggressor?"

"He was, but… I just don't think I could ever face him." God knows I'd thought about it. I remembered from Edward's file that his father's name was Carlisle Cullen. Surely that was an uncommon enough name that I'd easily be able to look online and find out where Edward lived. But what was I supposed to do? Just show up at his parents' house one day and ask to talk to him?

"You fell in love with him, didn't you?" Alice said softly.

I looked up at her, stunned. I'd never used the word 'love' to describe my feelings for Edward, but I had no doubt that I'd get there if we'd been able to spend much more time together.

"I could have," I whispered.

* * *

**A/N:** Please tell me someone else understands why I named Alice's father "Ted." :)

Next chapter, Edward makes a fateful decision.


	16. The Consequences, Pt E3

**Author's Note: **Thanks to moosals for pre-reading on short notice. Stephenie Meyer owns all characters.

This "section" of the story has six chapters: three from Bella's POV and three from Edward's. This is part E3 of "The Consequences." I will post alternating the POV.

Sorry about the unintentional cliffie at the end of the prior chapter! I didn't think about all of the ways "fateful decision" could be interpreted.

* * *

"Dad, can I talk to you?" I asked, interrupting him while he sat in his office one Saturday afternoon in August.

"Of course, Edward, come in," he smiled broadly.

As I sat in the chair in front of his desk, my mind jumped back to my time at Eclipse, sitting in front of Dr. Banner while he implored me to open up.

And Bella, too — though my dad didn't so much remind me of her.

"What can I do for you?" he asked when I didn't speak.

"Um, I've been thinking… and I'm not sure I should go to UCLA in a few weeks."

"What?" Dad yelled, sounding shocked. "You don't want to go to college anymore?"

"I didn't say that," I quickly clarified. "I'm just not sure that I should _go away_ to college. Jasper and Emmett have been telling me about all of the parties and drinking culture on campus, and I just don't know if I should live in a dorm where there's so much alcohol around."

My dad sighed heavily before nodding. "That's very mature of you, Edward, to realize that it may be something you can't handle. To be honest, I hadn't really thought about that, but then it's been more than a few years since I was in school, and I imagine things are quite a bit different nowadays."

"Do you think I could attend a local school and live at home?" I asked tentatively.

"Did you have a particular school in mind?" he asked.

"U-Dub? I don't really know yet what I want to study, and they have a ton of different programs. I'm sure I'll be able to find something eventually."

"It's a bit late to be making a decision about school for the upcoming quarter," Dad cautioned, "But I know a few of the higher-ups at the school. Hopefully, if I explain things to them, you'll be able to start in September. As a worst case, you'll start late in January."

"Thanks, Dad." I hugged him briefly before heading up to my room.

What I didn't tell Dad was that there was a second reason I didn't want to go to Los Angeles: Bella. I hadn't seen Bella in two months, but she was never far from my mind. I hoped that she'd been able to find another job doing something she loved.

When I'd gotten my laptop back a few weeks ago, the first thing I did was Google her. So now I had both her phone number and her address. Many times I'd pulled out my phone to call her, but I could never go through with it. She probably hated me, and I wasn't sure I could make her _not_ hate me in a phone conversation.

My parents still had my car keys hidden somewhere. They were considering letting me have them back long enough to drive to my AA meetings. But if I went to school locally, surely they'd let me drive there on my own. Both Dad and Mom worked, so I knew they wouldn't want to chauffeur their grown son to class every single day. Once I got my car back, I could go see Bella, try to persuade her not to hate me. Even though it was all my fault that she got fired.

If I was being honest with myself, the real reason I didn't call Bella was that I was afraid of finding out that she'd moved on and was dating someone else — someone her own age. I wasn't lying to my family when I told them that I really wasn't tempted to drink. I knew that drinking would ruin any slim chance I had of a future with Bella. And while I wasn't afraid that finding out we had _no_ chance at a future would cause me to drink, I knew that I'd lose my one true motivation to stay sober.

With a sigh, I flopped onto my back on my bed, staring up at the ceiling. If I closed my eyes, I could still remember being with Bella. I could easily remember the taste of her skin, the feel of her body underneath me. It wasn't just sex that we had. Sure, it had definitely started out that way for me, but somewhere along the way, I fell for her — hard.

It didn't matter to me that she was several years older than I was. Bella was everything I'd ever wanted in a girlfriend. And she understood me better than anyone else did. She had to know that I'd never meant for her to lose her job. She obviously loved counseling, and she was damn good at it. She had this way of making me open up when I didn't even realize I was doing it.

As often happened when I thought of Bella, I could feel myself getting hard. Two months was the longest I'd gone without sex in a while. Just as I was opening my jeans to pull my cock out of my boxers, Emmett pounded on my door to let me know dinner was ready.

Fuck my life.

* * *

**A/N:** Poor Edward, can't even jack off in peace. :)

Back to Bella's POV now for the rest of the story. Most of you can probably guess where this is going!

P.S. Go look up "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice" on Wikipedia.


	17. The Reunion, Pt 1

**Author's Note: **Thanks to moosals for pre-reading on short notice. Stephenie Meyer owns all characters.

Each "section" of the story has three chapters. This is part 1 of "The Reunion."

* * *

On the last Monday in September, I went through five different outfits before finally settling on something to wear for my first day of teaching at the University of Washington. Everything that I tried on looked too… sexy. Not that I'd ever thought I looked sexy in my professional attire before, but Edward's comment about how I resembled a "hot librarian" kept running on a loop through my mind. The last thing I needed was for one of my male students to get a crush on me.

God, Edward… I prayed that he was doing ok in California. I was a horrible person for sleeping with him in the first place, and even more horrible — not to mention a fucking coward — for not calling to check up on him. But what the fuck would I say if one of his parents answered the phone? What if they knew what had happened between us?

With a sigh, I headed out to my car, ready to start my new career. I really owed Alice's dad a lot for the way he'd gone to bat for me with the head of the Psychology department. I would be teaching three classes during the Autumn quarter. Two of them met daily in the mornings, and the third, which met three days a week, was over by 1:20pm. I'd planned to keep my part-time job working at the department store in the afternoons to make extra money.

Despite the morning rush-hour traffic, I made it to campus in plenty of time for my 8:30 class on Biopsychology. This class was made up of mostly sophomores. They all just seemed so _young_ to me as I looked out at them, watching while the students seated along the left side of each row passed copies of the syllabus to the others next to them. But then it occurred to me that they were still a year older than the last man I'd slept with.

When my first class ended, I breathed a huge sigh of relief; everything had gone well. I had just a 10-minute break before my Introduction to Psychology class. The University of Washington was such a large school that both of my classes met in huge lecture halls. While my first class had over 200 students registered, the second one had over 400!

I had known that as the low man on the totem pole, I would be given classes like this. What I was really looking forward to though, was teaching a higher level course called Introduction to Drugs and Behavior. That class came the closest to what I'd written about in my Master's thesis and was a smaller group — "only" 150 students.

Luckily, since the break between them was so short, my first two classes met in the same building, though in different rooms. By the time I made it to the second room, most of the students were seated already. Just as I had in my first class, I introduced myself and began passing out the syllabus. I knew that while the students in my other classes likely _wanted_ to study Psychology, these students were primarily freshmen trying to fulfill general education requirements. In short, they'd be a bit of a challenge.

As I explained what we'd be covering in the class, I suddenly got this weird feeling, like someone was watching me. I shrugged it off, sure that I was just imagining things. Of course the students were watching me — I wanted them to pay attention, didn't I?

Once class was dismissed, I began putting my lecture materials back into my briefcase while the students filed out of the room. As I closed and locked the case, I noticed a shadow from someone standing in front of my desk. With my head down, I could just make out a lean male body wearing a pair of dark wash jeans.

When I looked up, I found myself staring into a pair of jade green eyes.

"Edward," I whispered.

* * *

**A/N:** Yeah, most of you guessed where this was going. What should Bella do now?


	18. The Reunion, Pt 2

**Author's Note: **Thanks to moosals for pre-reading on short notice. Stephenie Meyer owns all characters.

Each "section" of the story has three chapters. This is part 2 of "The Reunion."

* * *

"We meet again, Ms. Swan," Edward's velvet voice said as I stood in a daze.

"Edward, what are you _doing_ here?" I whispered. "I thought you'd told me you planned to attend UCLA?"

"Um, yeah… but I decided not to go away to school. I didn't know you were teaching at U-Dub, I swear," he pleaded.

"I don't remember seeing your name on the list of students registered for this class."

"I was really late getting registered. My dad's connections got me in this quarter," he shrugged.

"Can we talk?" he asked when I didn't reply. "Are you busy?"

"No, um, I'm done for the day. Um, sure we can talk, but… not here."

"Where then?" he asked.

"My office, I guess? It's over in the Guthrie building, through the parking garage and over a block."

"After you," he replied with a small smile, indicating with his arm that I should lead the way.

I walked nervously out of the classroom toward the door, trying hard to keep myself from looking over at Edward. From what I had seen, he looked good — very good. How could this be happening again? I couldn't lose yet _another_ job.

When we finally reached the building housing the Psychology offices, I used my key to open the door to the small office I shared with a handful of other adjunct professors and stepped inside, setting my briefcase on the floor. Edward closed the door behind him and stood just in front of it, his hands clasped behind him, watching me carefully.

"I'm sorry," he finally whispered.

"What on earth for?"

"For getting you fired," he replied with a duh expression.

I shook my head, sighing as I closed my eyes. "You didn't get me fired, Edward — I did. I take full responsibility for my own actions."

"But I—I seduced you!"

"You were pretty hard to resist," I admitted, "But I could have if I'd really wanted to."

"You don't hate me?" he whispered.

"God no, of course not! I could never hate you, Edward," I told him with a small smile. Once I said the words, I watched as Edward's entire body seemed to relax. Had he seriously thought that I would hate him?

As I stood there gazing at him, Edward took several slow steps until he was standing right in front of me, his beautiful green eyes looking directly into mine. I stood frozen in place as he brought one hand up to my face, lightly stroking the back of his hand across my cheek.

I watched as he swallowed hard, closing his eyes. When he opened them again, they looked determined. Suddenly, Edward's lips were on mine, sucking gently at my lower lip. I opened to him instinctually, letting my tongue touch his.

I squeaked as I felt Edward lifting me to sit on the front edge of my desk. He stepped between my thighs, his lips never leaving mine. My arms wound their way around Edward's torso while he took my head in his large hands, turning me slightly so that he could deepen the kiss.

When his lips left mine to kiss along my jaw, I finally found my voice. "Edward," I whispered.

"God, I fucking missed you," he mumbled, sucking on my earlobe.

"Edward, wait — we aren't through talking," I said, pushing him away from me.

"What is it, Bella?"

"Are you ok?" I asked, stroking my hand through his hair — God, it was soft.

"I'm fine," he replied with a small smile. "Still sober," he shrugged.

I closed my eyes, thanking God for small favors. "I'm so sorry that I was too much of a coward to check up on you. And I can't believe you felt that you should be apologizing to me! I'm the one who needs to apologize. I'm the one who was in a position of power, and I abused that power."

"What?" he asked sharply. "Of course you didn't."

"I _did_," I insisted. "You were so vulnerable; you weren't in a position to know what was best for you."

"That's such bullshit. I'm the one who pursued _you_. I wanted you. I _still_ want you, so much."

"But it was wrong—"

"It was against the rules, maybe, but I'll never ever believe that it was wrong — that _we_ were wrong."

I stared into Edward's eyes, seeing that he truly believed what he was saying. Edward didn't feel at all taken advantage of.

"Please, Bella," he whispered, taking both of my hands in his. "Please give us a chance. Please say you'll be my girlfriend."

How could I resist that face? Those eyes? Those lips?

I nodded slowly, giving in easily when Edward's lips claimed mine again. As we made up for lost time, he tugged me closer to the edge of the desk, and I could feel his hardness right where I needed him. And then I felt Edward's hands pushing up on my skirt.

Reluctantly, I pulled back, detaching his hands from my thighs. "Not here," I panted. "I share this office with three other professors."

"Can I see you tonight then?" he asked. "At your place? I can be there around seven o'clock."

"On one condition."

"Anything, Bella."

"I need you to march down to the main office and drop my class." Edward giggled, nodding his head before skipping out of my office. It was only after he'd left that I realized I hadn't told him where I live.

* * *

**A/N:** I Googled for a policy on professor-student relationships and found this. It's not from U-Dub though theirs appeared to be similar, just not as clearly spelled out.

Faculty members shall not engage in consensual relationships with students **whenever a faculty member has a professional "position of authority" with respect to the student **in such matters as teaching a course or in otherwise evaluating, supervising, or advising a student as part of a school program. Even when the faculty member has no professional responsibility for a student, the faculty member should be sensitive to the perceptions of other students that a student who has a consensual relationship with a faculty member may receive preferential treatment from the faculty member or the faculty member's colleagues.

So they're fine as long as Edward drops Bella's class and they're discreet.


	19. The Reunion, Pt 3

**Author's Note: **Thanks to moosals for pre-reading on short notice. Stephenie Meyer owns all characters.

Each "section" of the story has three chapters. This is part 3 of "The Reunion."

* * *

My doorbell rang at exactly 6:57pm, and I jumped up from the couch to answer it. Swinging the door open, I saw Edward's smiling face for all of two seconds before he was inside my apartment with his tongue inside my mouth.

Edward walked me backwards and I fell onto the couch, his long, lean body covering mine while he continued to kiss me insistently. I felt one of his hands drifting underneath my top, making its way to my breast.

He pulled back just long enough to lift my shirt over my head, and the brief respite let me think rationally enough to press my hand to his chest before he could sink down onto me again.

"What's the rush?" I asked, trying to catch my breath.

"You mean besides the fact that I haven't had sex in three months?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, besides that."

"We only have 90 minutes."

"What? Why?"

"My parents think I'm at my AA meeting, and that's how long they last," he admitted.

"You skipped your AA meeting to come here?" I asked, horrified.

"Well, yeah," he shrugged. "It's no big deal."

I pushed on Edward's chest until he let me sit up. "Edward, it is a very big deal. Your sobriety has to be your number one priority. You can't just skip AA meetings."

"I swear to you, Bella, I want you far more than I want a drink right now."

"I…" Well, goddamnit, that was actually sweet. I shook my head to clear it. "Why couldn't you just come over after your meeting?"

"Well," he began sheepishly, "My parents have sort of had me under house arrest since my release from Eclipse. I got my car keys back last week, but I'm only allowed to drive to my AA meetings and school, then I have to come right home."

"They don't trust you to stay sober," I realized.

"Yeah," he nodded. "I think they feel really bad that they missed all of the signs for so long. They blame themselves in a way."

"Lying to them isn't the way to gain their trust, you know."

"But what's the alternative?"

"You could try being honest," I replied, my eyes narrowed.

"If I tell them about you, they're going to want to meet you," he said carefully. "Are you ready for that?"

Well, fuck.

"Do they know about what happened between us… before?" I asked, holding my breath.

Edward shook his head. "It's none of their business — I'm an adult. Anyway, at least we'll have a better story for how we met now, right? I can say we met at school," he said happily.

"Edward, I don't look like a student. We'd have to tell them that I'm teaching a class."

"But not _my_ class; I got changed to a different Psych class, just like you wanted. We can keep sneaking around for now if you're not ready to meet them," he added.

"No, Edward. Sneaking around is how we got into this mess in the first place. You need to tell your parents about me. And if I have to meet them, then… so be it."

"Really? You'd do that for me?" he asked shyly.

"I already lost my job over you — I'd be stupid to not see where this goes." At the horror-struck expression on Edward's face, I immediately regretted my words. "I'm not blaming you," I told him, running my fingers through his soft hair. "My own poor decision-making is to blame."

"Can you ever forgive me?" he whispered.

"There's nothing to forgive," I replied, before kissing him slowly, deliberately. I pulled back after a few moments, staring into those haunting green eyes. "Didn't you say something about no sex in three months?"

Edward grinned, his hands immediately going for the clasp on my lacy bra. When it fell open, he slowly pulled the straps down my arms, tossing it aside before taking my breasts in his hands and rubbing his thumbs over my nipples.

When he took one of my breasts in his mouth, I felt it all the way to my core. Needing him naked — now — I began pushing up on his t-shirt, running my hands over his chest. I hadn't really gotten a chance to admire it properly the last time. Edward let me go long enough so that I could pull his t-shirt up over his head. I tried to stand, so that we could take this to a more comfortable location, but he reached his hand out to stop me.

"Here?" he asked shyly. "I want to watch you above me."

"Do you have a condom?" He nodded, pulling his wallet out of his back pocket and taking out a foil packet.

I reached for the button on Edward's jeans, then unzipped them. He stood up just long enough to pull both his jeans and boxers down before arranging himself on the couch so that he was sitting up straight against the back of it.

"Eager, much?" I asked with a grin, looking down at his hard cock pointing at me. He shrugged, smirking at me.

As I stood up to remove my pants, I was suddenly curious as to why Edward wanted to have sex on my _couch_. "Why here?" I asked.

"Because I used to dream about having sex with you on the couch in your office," he confessed, blushing an adorable shade of pink.

"I didn't _have_ a couch in my office."

"I know, but… in my dreams you did. Shrinks are supposed to have couches." He shrugged.

I rolled my eyes as I settled myself on his thighs, straddling him. "I wasn't a shrink, Edward," I told him, taking his long thick cock in my hand.

He hissed, closing his eyes. "Your hand feels so good," he whispered. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you, too," I admitted. I reached for the foil packet, opening it quickly and rolling the condom down his length.

"You know I'm not gonna last long," he warned.

I smiled, rubbing his condom-covered cock through my wetness before sinking slowly down onto him. Damn, he felt big this way.

Edward squeezed his eyes tightly shut. "Fuck, you're gonna make me embarrass myself," he muttered. I couldn't help laughing at him. I placed my hands on his shoulders and slowly began moving myself up and down, loving the sounds of his moans and groans. Eventually he took one of my breasts in his mouth again and started to thrust up into me. Damn, he was good — I love a man who can multitask.

"You feel so good," I whispered in his ear.

"Fuck, do you _want_ me to come too fast?" he groaned. He really was adorable.

I tugged Edward away from my breasts so I could kiss him. I was in love with his lips and tongue. One of his hands found its way down to just above where we joined and he began drawing small circles with one of those sexy, talented fingers.

My orgasm took me totally by surprise. "Fuck, Edward!" I screamed as I came. With a final whimper, he reached his peak as well. When he stopped shuddering, his head fell back against the top of the couch and he closed his eyes, a silly grin on his face.

"As good as your dreams?" I asked when my breathing slowed.

"Better," he breathed.

Reluctantly, I climbed off his lap so he could dispose of the condom. "The bathroom is just down the hall," I whispered. Exhausted, I lay back on the couch, trying not to feel guilty for what we'd just done. Edward was legal, and I was no longer a counselor — or his teacher.

When Edward came back, he climbed onto the couch next to me, arranging me so that I was mostly lying on top of him. He took my lips in his and we kissed lazily for several minutes while his hands caressed every inch of skin that he could reach. I could feel him growing hard again beneath my thigh.

"You're everything I've ever wanted, Bella," he whispered, stroking his fingers through my hair. "All those girls I was with… I was just looking for you."

"I'm not perfect, Edward. Don't put me on some kind of pedestal."

"You're perfect for me. I love you, Bella," he whispered.

My heart skipped a beat as I stared at him. Did he mean it this time? It had been at least 20 minutes since we'd had sex… was that long enough? He certainly _looked_ sincere.

"You don't have to say it back. I know… I know it's fast."

I continued to stare at him, still unable to speak. Did I love Edward? I didn't really know him all that well yet. He was clearly still a teenager in a lot of ways, but we could work on that, couldn't we? I knew that I wasn't ready to declare my love for him, but I could show him how I felt.

"You wouldn't happen to have another condom in your wallet, would you?" I whispered.

Edward grinned, nodding his head. I reached down to his wallet on the floor to retrieve the condom, quickly sheathing him with it before placing him at my entrance. When he thrust up into me, everything that was against us ceased to matter. He and I, right here, right now — we were all that mattered.

I continued to move myself over him as we kissed. His soft hands all over my back were driving me wild. As he slowly began thrusting up to meet me, I felt myself rushing quickly toward another climax. I cried out as my body began to shudder over his. Edward grasped my hips, thrusting hard several times before groaning loudly.

I lay on his chest as my breathing slowed, feeling content for the first time in months. I was nearly asleep when I felt Edward's lips touch my forehead.

"I need to get going," he whispered.

Reluctantly I sat up, letting him slip out of me. While Edward disposed of the condom, I grabbed my robe from my bedroom, planning to take a shower as soon as he left.

I watched quietly as Edward got dressed, not really wanting him to leave. He gave me a long kiss goodbye before walking out the door.

I hadn't even made it to the bedroom when I heard my phone beep with an incoming text message: **Miss U already. xoxo**

* * *

**A/N:** Meeting the parents... that should be fun.

A reminder that Edward had Googled Bella as soon as he got his laptop back, which is how he got her address and cell number.


	20. The Relationship, Pt 1

**Author's Note: **Thanks to moosals for pre-reading on short notice. Stephenie Meyer owns all characters.

Each "section" of the story has three chapters. This is part 1 of "The Relationship."

* * *

I stared at myself in the mirror, wondering if I could really go through with it. In exactly a half hour, I would be meeting my… boyfriend's parents. My _18-year-old_ boyfriend's parents.

I'd never actually done the "meet the parents" thing with a guy that I dated. I was in college when I met Peter, and his parents were 1,500 miles away. Our relationship had lasted two years, until he graduated and moved back home to Phoenix. I realized later that the fact that he had never invited me home to meet his parents should've been a hint that our relationship wasn't going to last.

During my first year of grad school, I had dated an older guy named James. I never met his parents, or even any of his friends. I found out why the day I showed up at his place and met his wife.

Yeah, so my dating history left a lot to be desired.

I would be meeting Edward and his parents at an Italian restaurant for dinner, nine days after he'd shown up in my classroom. Though we spoke on the phone every night, it took him a week to finally tell his parents that he had a girlfriend. All he'd told them so far was the very clean version of the truth — we met at school. As he'd expected, they wanted to meet me before allowing us to spend any time together.

I couldn't really blame Edward's parents for worrying about him so much. I worried about him, too. He didn't really seem to take his problems with alcohol seriously enough, always saying that he wasn't tempted to drink. And it's not that I didn't believe him, because I did. From what Edward had told me in therapy, he drank when faced with peer pressure, or with stressful or unknown situations. I worried about how he would react the first time he had to face something like that.

Like tonight, for example.

**How are you doing?** I texted him.

**Missing U. **I rolled my eyes — I could never say that Edward Cullen wasn't charming.

Arriving at the lovely restaurant, I quickly spotted Edward seated in a booth across from an attractive middle-aged couple. I took a deep breath and crossed the room.

"Bella," Edward called with a smile, standing up to give me a quick kiss. I turned my head at the last second so that he touched my cheek. He narrowed his eyes at me, but I knew he understood.

Edward grasped my hand tightly, pulling me to sit in the booth next to him. "Um, Mom and Dad," he began, "This is my girlfriend, Bella Swan. Bella, these are my parents, Carlisle and Esme Cullen."

Edward's father was an attractive man with honey blond hair streaked with gray at the temples. Deep blue eyes looked me over until he finally smiled. Looking at Edward's mother was like looking at an older, female version of Edward. Clearly, he favored her in looks. And unlike her husband, she was eyeing me shrewdly.

"It's so nice to meet you, Bella," she finally said, not sounding sincere in the least. "Edward," she said, turning to him, "I thought you said you'd met Bella at school?"

"I did."

"No offense, but you seem a little… older than the traditional student."

I swallowed thickly. "I—I'm not a student, Mrs. Cullen. I'm an adjunct professor at the school, teaching three psychology classes."

"Aren't you taking Psychology, Edward? She's your teacher?"

"No, Mom, I'm not in Bella's class." I wanted to laugh as he rolled his eyes for emphasis. Not anymore, he wasn't.

"How old are you, Bella?" Dr. Cullen asked.

I cleared my throat. "Um, I'm 26."

Edward turned his head to look at me sharply. Oops… he didn't know that I'd had a birthday a few weeks back.

"Edward is only 18!" Mrs. Cullen exclaimed.

"Yes, I'm aware of that," I replied. Thankfully our waiter stopped by just then to deliver the drinks the others had ordered and to take my drink order. I really wanted a glass of wine, but I knew I couldn't drink in front of Edward, so I ordered a Diet Coke instead.

"Are you aware of Edward's… history?" his mother asked carefully.

"I am," I nodded. She seemed shocked that I knew… little did she know.

"And none of this bothers you?"

"No, why should it? It's the person Edward is on the inside that counts."

"Are you guys done badgering Bella now?" Edward asked angrily. "She's the best thing that ever happened to me. Please don't ruin this for me," he begged.

I squeezed Edward's hand, letting him know that I wasn't going to run away. I'd known going in that tonight wouldn't be easy. I'd be suspicious of an older woman dating my fresh-out-of-rehab teenage son, too.

Fuck, it sounded bad when I put it that way.

When our waiter returned to take our dinner orders, I opened my menu for the first time, ordering the mushroom ravioli — the first thing on the menu.

Beyond explaining the basics such as where I grew up and where I went to school, I did my best to steer the conversation away from me for the rest of the evening. In the end, I actually had a pretty good time, beyond feeling like I was on trial.

Edward and I shared a piece of chocolate cake for dessert before his father announced that he needed to get home since he had an early shift at the hospital tomorrow.

"Can Bella take me home?" Edward asked as we made our way out of the restaurant. I could see that Mrs. Cullen clearly wanted to say no, but her husband's hand on her forearm kept her from speaking up.

"Not too late; you have class tomorrow morning," Dr. Cullen directed.

Edward nodded, his fingers entwined with mine while I lead him to my car. After we were both seated, he leaned across the center console, kissing me sweetly. "Thank you," he whispered.

* * *

**A/N:** Whew... they survived their first test!


	21. The Relationship, Pt 2

**Author's Note: **Thanks to moosals for pre-reading on short notice. Stephenie Meyer owns all characters.

Each "section" of the story has three chapters. This is part 2 of "The Relationship."

* * *

Now that Edward's parents knew about me, he insisted that he wanted to take me on a real date. With the weather exceptionally nice for an October in Seattle, we decided to spend the next Saturday downtown, acting like tourists.

"Does your mother still hate me?" I asked him as we walked along the waterfront, hand in hand.

"No, she doesn't hate you, Bella," he replied softly, squeezing my hand.

"Yeah, right," I snorted.

"She _doesn't_. She's mostly just afraid that you won't be able to deal with things."

"Things?"

"Like the fact that I'm an 18-year-old alcoholic," he replied flatly.

Oh. "So she thinks I'm going to break your heart?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "And she's afraid that I'd be upset and start drinking again."

I stopped, turning to take Edward's face in my hands. "I have no intentions of breaking up with you, but I can't make you any promises of forever this early in our relationship. No one could. You know that, right?"

"I know," he whispered. "I missed you so much this summer and didn't start drinking, so even though I'd be upset, I wouldn't drink, I swear. I don't want you to worry about that."

"I appreciate that," I replied, kissing him softly.

"You know, I think your parents don't really understand you. Did they ever come to a family session with Dr. Banner that last week?"

"No," he replied, shaking his head. "He tried to set something up, but they had to work."

"Hmmm. It might do you guys some good to sit down and talk about it. They need to understand your triggers, and then perhaps they won't keep you on such a short leash."

"I wish you could be there to help me."

"Not a chance. I can't facilitate something like that."

"I know… I just wish," he replied with a shrug. I smiled sadly at him.

After lunch, we continued walking around the downtown streets. I turned to ask Edward a question, surprised to find him 15 feet behind me, staring into a shop window. I quickly headed back to him.

"What's wrong?" I asked when I reached him.

He nodded his head toward the shop. I looked up at their sign, realizing it was some kind of music store.

"Did you want to go in?" Edward nodded, taking my hand as we walked inside.

There was a beautiful baby grand piano along one of the walls. He didn't move from the doorway, but I could see the way he eyed it longingly. "Come on," I encouraged, pulling on his hand.

Once we were standing in front of the piano, Edward began to run his fingers lightly over the keys. I watched the awed expression on his face as he admired the beautiful instrument.

"Would you play for me?" I whispered.

His head whipped around. "Oh no, I—I couldn't. I haven't played in so long."

"I'd bet you still remember some things, right?" He shrugged. "Try," I pleaded. "For me?"

Edward stared into my eyes before finally nodding. He pulled out the bench and sat down, playing some sort of warm-up scale as his fingers flew over the keys.

"It's in tune," he said quietly. "Will you sit by me, Bella?"

He looked so earnest gazing up at me that I couldn't help but nod. I took a seat to Edward's left, hoping to stay out of his way.

"What do you want me to play?" he asked.

"Anything," I shrugged. "I'm not an expert on classical music."

"I'm probably not very good anymore," he warned. Turning back to the keys, he took a deep breath, placing his hands in position.

I sat in wonder at the beautiful music that started coming from Edward's fingertips. I had no idea what the song was, but it didn't matter. He had truly undersold his talent.

Watching Edward's long fingers dance across the keys was starting to make me very, very… well, horny. I tore my eyes away from them to watch his face instead. Eyes closed, lips pursed, with a slight smile on his face… he'd never been more beautiful.

Damn it, that made me horny, too.

When the song ended, I heard a light smattering of applause from the other customers and employees in the store. Edward's hands remained on the keys as he looked over to me and shrugged.

"That was beautiful, Edward," I whispered. "What was it called?"

"_Claire de Lune_. I learned it for a recital when I was in middle school."

"You are so talented," I gushed. "I know your major is undecided, but have you ever thought about a career in music?"

"Music isn't a real career," he replied, shaking his head.

"It could be," I insisted. "You could teach music."

He shrugged again. "I'd rather keep music as something just for me. And for you," he added.

I stroked my fingers through his hair, placing a light kiss on his pouty lips. "I love you, Edward Cullen."

His answering grin was the most beautiful sight I'd ever seen. Edward quickly stood up from the bench, tugging me with him.

"Where are we going?" I laughed as he dragged me out of the store.

"The nearest bed."

Yes, please.

* * *

**A/N:** Awww... She said I love you!


	22. The Relationship, Pt 3

**Author's Note: **Thanks to moosals for pre-reading on short notice. Stephenie Meyer owns all characters.

Each "section" of the story has three chapters. This is part 3 of "The Relationship."

* * *

I sat on the closed toilet lid, trying to be patient and still while Alice attached my fake eyelashes.

"You are going to look so cute, Bella!" she squealed.

"Yeah, until we put the nose on."

"The nose is what makes it cute! Now sit still so I can attach your wig."

Once Alice got all of my hair tucked up under my flowing, platinum blonde wig, she added the headband with the ears. She stood back, eyeing me carefully, before readjusting it.

"There! Do you want to see?"

Nodding, I stood up and peered at my reflection in the mirror. Decked out in the satin dress I'd worn as a bridesmaid in my friend Angela's wedding two years ago, I _did_ look beautiful and elegant… minus the pig ears.

"Edward's bringing you a pearl necklace, right?" Alice asked.

"Yeah, he is," I nodded.

"I can't wait to meet him," she said excitedly.

"No drooling over my boyfriend," I warned.

"Oh please! I don't like them as young as you do," she giggled.

"I've never dated a younger man before!" I protested.

The doorbell rang before I could strangle Alice, and I hastily made my way to the living room to answer it. I burst out laughing at the sight of Edward in his Kermit the Frog costume, his face painted bright green.

"Well, hello there, Miss Piggy," he greeted me, kissing me rather indecently, considering that we had an audience.

Alice cleared her throat before he could take things too far. "Edward, this is my oldest and best friend, Alice," I said, introducing them. "Alice, this is Edward."

"A pleasure, Edward," she said, shaking his hand. "That color goes really well with your eyes."

"Um, thanks," he replied, chuckling. "Your necklace is in the car, Bella, since I don't have any pockets."

I quickly stepped into my high heels, grabbing the — ugh — snout attached to a strap. I didn't intend to put that on until the last possible minute.

The three of us headed out to the parking lot together. "Have fun, guys," Alice called as she walked to her car.

Edward opened my door for me, helping me into his car before closing the door and swiftly making his way around to the driver's side. Once inside, he kissed me until my toes started to curl. "Thank you for doing this. Oh, here's my mom's necklace," he said, handing me the box that he'd stashed in the center console.

Edward and I were going to a Halloween party that one of his classmates was throwing. Since the start of school just over a month ago, he'd been pretty anti-social, thanks to his parents' strict rules. But he really wanted to go to this party and try to make some new friends.

He also knew there'd be plenty of beer at the party. While he'd been to restaurants that served alcohol, of course, he hadn't been around anyone who'd actually been drinking it. He wouldn't admit just how nervous he was, but I knew he needed an ally in order to feel comfortable drinking just Coke at the party.

I, however, was more than a little nervous about showing up at a college party where some of my students could be. Not to mention the fact that there'd be underage drinking. I didn't want to do anything to possibly put _another_ job in jeopardy. In the end, I'd agreed to go, but only if we could find a costume for me to wear that would hide most of my face. Hence the very uncomfortable pig snout.

Once we arrived at the home where the party was being held, Edward helped me with the rest of my costume, pulling my hair over the strap to cover it. He came around to open my door, then helped me out of the car and across the street.

"Those heels are fucking hot," he whispered.

By the time we got inside, the party was already in full swing. Edward and I went first to the kitchen, where I poured Coke from a 2-liter bottle into our plastic cups. I noticed him tense up a little when he spotted the keg.

Throughout the night, Edward introduced me just as his "girlfriend, Bella," and no one seemed to recognize me, for which I was thankful.

"Are you doing ok with all of the drinking?" I asked tentatively.

"I'm fine," he shrugged. "I already got the girl, so I don't need to drink for courage."

"And I'm wondering if I acted that stupid when I was drunk," he added.

"Probably," I nodded, giggling.

"You know you can have a beer if you want to, Bella."

"No, I can't. Not if I want to kiss you."

"It's a little hard to kiss you with this snout on," he replied, earning a slap on the chest.

Once the socializing part of the evening changed over to dancing and getting shit-faced, we danced to the loud music and made out as best we could. I really hoped none of Edward's green face paint was coming off on me.

"Edward," I protested, pushing him away when he got a little _too_ fresh. "Standing here practically dry humping is not dancing."

"'But I've had enough dancing! I just want _you_ now. Want to go upstairs?" he asked, waggling his eyebrows.

"You are not taking me upstairs like one of your high school sluts!"

He laughed. "Sorry, I really didn't mean to imply that you were anything like them. Dancing with you has got me so worked up though."

Edward pushed his very hard erection into me, as if I hadn't already noticed it. I ran my hands over his chest, watching the way his eyes darkened.

"How much time do we have?" I asked.

"I may have begged my parents to let me stay out all night, as long as I call them when we get to your apartment," he replied with a huge grin.

"You… ugh, the thought of your parents knowing we have sex…" I shuddered.

"They did look kinda shocked when I asked, but then I sorta told them that I hadn't been a virgin in over three years," he replied sheepishly.

"I'd bet you nearly gave your mom a heart attack," I laughed.

He shrugged, grinning at me.

"Take me home, Edward," I whispered.

* * *

**A/N:** Sorry Esme, your boy isn't so sweet and innocent.


	23. The Family, Pt 1

**Author's Note: **Thanks to moosals for pre-reading on short notice. Stephenie Meyer owns all characters.

Each "section" of the story has three chapters. This is part 1 of "The Family."

* * *

"Good evening, Bella," Dr. Cullen greeted me with a smile.

"Good to see you again, Dr. Cullen," I replied as I stepped into the foyer of the Cullens' massive home.

"I think Edward is in the kitchen," he said as he took my coat. "You remember where it is?"

"I remember," I nodded, smiling back at him.

I'd been here once before, to have dinner with Edward and his parents. Tonight was the Cullens' annual Christmas party — a huge affair with dozens of guests. It would also be the first time I'd meet Edward's brothers, who were home from college for Winter Break.

"Hey you." I wrapped my arms around Edward's waist as he stood in front of the gorgeous granite island, sampling from plates of hors d'oeuvres. "Couldn't wait, huh?"

He turned around, grinning at me before leaning down to kiss me.

"Why am I here so early?" I asked once he finally let me go. "I don't see any other guests."

"Because I have to show you something, come on," he said urgently, taking my hand.

Edward led me up two flights of stairs and down a short hallway. He opened the door at the end of the hall, motioning for me to go inside.

"Yeah, so… this is my room," he said shyly. I looked around at the bedroom which was twice the size of my own. Besides the obvious bed covered by a masculine comforter with dark blue and gray stripes, there was a dresser, a black leather couch and a desk with a laptop and printer sitting on top.

"Nice," I said, stepping inside. I heard Edward close the door behind me. Moments later, he wrapped his arms around me from behind and began kissing my neck.

"I want you," he whispered.

"Here?!"

"Yes," he chuckled. "We're on the third floor; no one will hear us. Please," he begged, tugging on my earlobe with his lips.

Though I didn't say yes, Edward's arms disappeared from around my waist and I felt him tugging down the zipper on the back of my black sequined dress. He pushed the spaghetti straps off my shoulders and it fell to the floor. Stepping out of the pile of material, I turned around to face him, wanting to laugh at the hungry expression on my boyfriend's face.

"I love this," he whispered, running his finger along the top of my strapless push-up bra. "But it has to go."

Edward reached around behind me, quickly undoing the clasp and letting my bra fall to the floor. He took my hands, leading me over to the large desk and helping me hop up onto it. "We're going to fulfill another one of my fantasies tonight," he announced.

"Oh yeah? Which one is that?" I'd be up for pretty much anything he suggested.

"You never let me fuck you on the desk in your office at Eclipse."

"Hmmm… well, I think that can be arranged," I replied, pulling Edward closer to me. I wound my arms around his neck and brought his mouth down to mine while his hands went straight for my breasts. I would never get tired of Edward's kisses. He could be so sensual that I tended to forget his tender age.

I began undoing the buttons on Edward's light blue button-down shirt while his lips and tongue continued to do dirty things to mine. Once I had him naked from the waist up, I ran my hands all over his bare chest. He was quite lean, with only a light smattering of chest hair. Perhaps he'd get more as he got older, but I never did find overly hairy men attractive.

Edward's hands began to wander while I undressed him. He finally left my breasts alone and started stroking his fingers along the outside of my lace panties. Unable to wait much longer to have him, my hands made their way to Edward's belt, unbuckling it before moving to the button and zipper on his dress slacks.

"Condom?" I asked as Edward helped me tug his pants and boxers down. He stepped out of his pants and nodded, rushing over to the nightstand. Meanwhile, I slid down from the desk long enough to remove my own panties before jumping back up.

Once he had sheathed himself in the condom, Edward lined us up, kissing me deeply as he pushed inside. "Mmm… I love you, Bella," he whispered.

I wrapped my legs around him and grabbed his ass, pulling him into me. "I love you, too."

Even though Edward assured me that no one downstairs could hear us, I did my best to keep quiet as he began moving at a frantic pace. Our kisses turned into mere breathing into each other's mouths as the pressure built inside me. When Edward's long finger drifted south to rub circles around my clit, I lost it, screaming out my orgasm in record time.

I expected Edward to finish soon as well, but instead, he grasped the base of his cock and pulled out, helping me off the desk.

"What are you—"

My question was answered as he threw me onto the bed, taking both of my hands in his and lifting them above my head before swiftly entering me again.

"Jesus, Edward…" I panted as he resumed his frenzied thrusts, still holding on to my hands.

"Can you… come again?" he grunted.

Completely surrounded by Edward, the answer could only be yes, though I was barely able to manage a nod through my loud moans. Once again, I wrapped my legs around him, wanting to pull him deeper and deeper.

"I'm… gonna…" he whimpered.

"Oh God!" I screamed as I came. Edward groaned loudly as he quickly followed me. He let go of my hands and wrapped himself around me, rolling to his side.

"Holy fuck, what was that?" I panted.

"You're mine," he growled. "I want everyone at this party to smell me on you."

_Hot damn, possessive Edward!_

He giggled. "And now my bed will smell like you, too."

"You're never gonna get a wink of sleep now."

He laughed, kissing me sweetly, then rolled off the bed to go dispose of the condom in his en suite bathroom.

"I don't think I can move," I sighed when he came back into the bedroom.

"We probably should clean up and head downstairs before Mom and Dad wonder where the heck we are."

Reluctantly, I sat up, waiting until my equilibrium returned before getting up to find my underwear.

"I didn't see your brothers when I got here," I noted to Edward as we both got dressed.

"Oh, yeah. Jasper was helping Mom set up in the living room, and Emmett went to pick up his girlfriend. He met her at the pool right at the end of last summer, so she hasn't been to the house before."

"Have you met her yet?" I asked, stepping into the bathroom to fix my hair.

"No, but I swear, he goes on and on about her like she's a candidate for Miss Washington. They've been dating long distance pretty much ever since they met. I can't imagine what I'd do if we couldn't see each other in person."

I came out of the bathroom, narrowing my eyes at him. "Don't remind me of how you gave up your dream of going to school in Los Angeles for me."

"It wasn't just that," he whined.

"I know," I replied, kissing him chastely. "Let's go join the party."

By the time we made it to the second floor, the sounds of the party were starting to reach my ears. Edward wrapped his arm around my shoulders as he lead me into the living room.

"They're serving wine?" I asked, shocked to see several of the guests holding wine glasses.

"Yeah, Mom asked and I said it was fine," he shrugged.

"Hey, Eddie-boy, where ya been?" an attractive young man with floppy blond hair asked, punching him in the arm.

Edward ignored the question, introducing me to his brother Jasper instead.

"Nice to meet you Jasper," I said with a smile.

"Likewise," he nodded.

"Is Emmett back yet?" Edward asked.

"Yeah, they're in the kitchen, I think."

"Come on," Edward said to me, tugging on my hand. "Hey, Emmett," he called as we stepped into the kitchen.

The dark-haired man turned around to face us, revealing his girlfriend standing behind him.

"Ms. Swan?!"

* * *

**A/N:** Uh-oh, who knows Bella?


	24. The Family, Pt 2

**Author's Note: **Thanks to moosals for pre-reading on short notice. Stephenie Meyer owns all characters.

Each "section" of the story has three chapters. This is part 2 of "The Family."

There seem to be two distinct thoughts about who could possibly know Bella. Let's find out.

* * *

"Nurse Hale," Edward whispered, his hand gripping mine ever tighter.

Rosalie Hale stood on the other side of the granite-topped island, looking as supermodel-gorgeous as ever. Her eyes darted back and forth between Edward and me, while the large hunk of man that I assumed to be Edward's brother Emmett just looked confused.

"You guys know each other?" Emmett asked.

Rosalie seemed to be the first to shake herself out of the stupor the three of us were in. "Emmett _Cullen_… of course. You look nothing like Edward, so I never made the connection before."

"You know Edward?" he asked, turning to her.

"I do," she nodded. "You know that I'm a nurse at a rehab center, but I guess I never mentioned the name of the facility. I work at Eclipse." She then turned to me. "Ms. Swan? What are you doing here with Edward? Why did you disappear so—oh!" she exclaimed.

"It—it's probably not what you're thinking, Rosalie," I stammered.

"Oh, I think it is," she replied, raising an eyebrow. "Now I understand. We were just told that there was some sort of conduct issue, but you left because you were involved with one of your patients."

"Wait, what?" Emmett shouted.

"She what?" a female voice shrieked behind me.

Oh God. Kill me now.

"Edward, I thought you said that you met Bella at school?" Mrs. Cullen asked, stepping further into the kitchen.

"I… met her _again_ at school," he answered sheepishly.

"Emmett, please go get your father," she directed calmly.

"Mom—" Edward began, but she held her hand up.

"Do not say another word until your father gets here."

It felt like a lifetime, but was probably less than a minute, before Emmett returned with Dr. Cullen and Jasper in tow. "What's going on, Esme?" Dr. Cullen asked.

"Apparently, Bella used to work at Eclipse and Edward was one of her patients."

I closed my eyes, not wanting to see the accusing looks on their faces. Edward let go of my hand and wrapped his arm around my shoulder, pulling me into his body.

"Why don't we all move someplace private to talk? My office?"

After the entire gang filed up to the second floor and into Dr. Cullen's office, he closed the door behind him. "Edward, is this true?" he began. "Bella was your counselor at Eclipse?"

I felt Edward's nod, my head still buried in his chest. "Not at first, she wasn't. But then Dr. Banner switched me over to her after a week."

"And you two were _involved_?"

"It's my fault! I seduced her."

"Edward," I started, pushing away from him. "I take full responsibility for my actions, Dr. Cullen."

"How could you do something like that?" Mrs. Cullen screeched.

"I obviously made a very poor decision. And I paid for it — I lost my job and my entire career."

"But now you're a professor? Or was that a lie, too?" she asked.

"No, I am an adjunct professor. A friend's father teaches at U-Dub and helped me get a part-time job in the Psychology department. I had no idea that Edward would be going to school there, but we ran into each other on my first day."

"Were you lying about being in her class, Edward?" she asked pointedly.

"No," he insisted. "I _was_ in her class, but I changed to a different Psych class after that first day when I realized Bella was my teacher."

"I just can't wrap my head around this," Mrs. Cullen said, shaking her head back and forth. "For a counselor to get romantically involved with one of her patients… that's just wrong on so many levels."

"I know," I whispered.

"It's not wrong!" Edward yelled. "Don't say that. Yes, it was against the rules, but it's not _wrong_!"

I ran my fingers through his soft hair, trying to calm him.

"Emmett, why don't you, Rose and Jasper go back out to our guests," Dr. Cullen suggested. Emmett nodded and the three of them left the room.

"Mrs. Cullen, I know that I made a huge mistake in getting involved with Edward while I was still his counselor. We tried to wait until after he was released, but that also would've been a breach of ethical guidelines — and, well, neither one of us was very patient."

"Do you realize what damage you could've done?" Dr. Cullen asked.

"Bella didn't do anything, Dad," Edward spoke up. "It was all my fault. She didn't damage me; she helped me. I'm still sober today because of Bella. Please try to understand…" I wrapped my arms around him, hugging him to me.

"Carlisle, I don't want her anywhere near our son."

"No, Mom!" Edward shouted.

"I know that you don't think very highly of me right now — and rightly so — but l can assure you that I am in love with your son. I would never do anything to hurt him."

"And I love Bella," Edward said desperately. "I'm 18 — you can't tell me who I can and can't see. Stop treating me like a child — it's too late for that! If you want someone to blame, blame _me_, not Bella."

"Speaking of 18… were you two involved while you were still underage?" Dr. Cullen asked.

"_No_," Edward insisted. "Believe me, I tried, but Bella wouldn't let me touch her until my birthday."

"If I find out that's not true, I'll make sure she goes to jail," his mother threatened.

"We waited, ok? I swear to you," he cried. "Bella came to my room the night after my birthday. She got caught and then fired."

"I don't like this," Mrs. Cullen said.

"You don't have to like it; you just have to respect that I can make my own decisions."

"You haven't exactly shown us that you can make good decisions, Edward," his father replied.

"I know… I've made a lot of mistakes, but Bella has really helped me. I've been sober for over six months, but you still treat me like I'm fragile. I'm different because of _her_, while you guys couldn't even rearrange your work schedules to come to one of my sessions.

"Bella is everything I've ever wanted," Edward said, his voice cracking. Suddenly, he pulled me into his chest, hugging me tightly. "I love her so much. Maybe our relationship was considered forbidden by society because of how we met, but I know we were meant to be."

Hearing the tears in his voice, I looked up at Edward's beautiful face and brushed his tears away. I was so proud of him for standing up to his parents.

"Let's get out of here, ok?" he whispered.

I nodded, detaching myself from him. "I'm sorry," I told his parents sincerely. "I do love him. Your son is an amazing person."

"I'm spending the night at Bella's," Edward declared without any further discussion, as he pulled me toward the door.

* * *

**A/N:** Well, that went well.


	25. The Family, Pt 3

**Author's Note: **Thanks to moosals for pre-reading on short notice. Stephenie Meyer owns all characters.

Each "section" of the story has three chapters. This is part 3 of "The Family."

Jumping ahead a few weeks here, past the drama.

* * *

As I stood in front of the bathroom mirror doing my makeup, I really wished that Alice was here to help me, but she was going to be meeting us at the club. Edward was the one who'd first heard about the nightclub that was sponsoring a non-alcoholic "first night" celebration for New Year's Eve. His brother Jasper was still only 20, so he agreed to join us. After much begging, Alice also agreed to meet us at the club so that Jasper didn't feel like a third wheel.

The past two weeks had not been easy; I was really looking forward to a night out just having fun. If it was up to Edward, he pretty much would've moved in with me after we left his parents' house that night they found out the truth. I knew it was far too soon for something like that though.

Also, my second job in retail needed me to work very long hours leading up to Christmas. Instead of just lying around my apartment doing nothing while I was at work until 11pm every night, I insisted that Edward try to talk to his parents. They had a long overdue discussion of the events that led up to his becoming an alcoholic, and eventually they came to some sort of understanding. While they still didn't like or trust me, they finally "got it" in regards to Edward's feelings for me, and realized that if they didn't let him make his own decisions — his own mistakes, _they_ said — they were going to lose their son.

Following their talk, Edward moved back home after his parents agreed not to fight him on seeing me. The last thing I ever wanted was to come between Edward and his parents, so I was thankful when they patched things up.

I was just putting my earrings in when the doorbell rang, signaling Edward's arrival, and I quickly moved to answer it.

"Hello, handsome," I said, my jaw dropping at the sight of Edward before me. The pale green of his button-down shirt really set off the color of his eyes. "You are too sexy for your own good sometimes. I'm going to be beating other girls off you with a stick."

He chuckled, wrapping his arms around me and kissing me senseless. "You look so fucking hot in that dress," he growled.

"You know, Alice would have my head if she knew it was the same dress I wore to your parents' Christmas party."

"But you look so hot in it! I had to see it again. Jasper won't notice, trust me." I suppose I did spend more time _out_ of my dress than in it that night.

I gathered my coat and purse, walking with Edward out to his car, where as usual he was a perfect gentleman helping me into the passenger seat.

"Jazz went on ahead, so he's gonna try to grab a table for us," Edward said as he drove.

"Does Jasper hate me too?" I asked tentatively.

"No, he doesn't. Jazz is too laidback — he doesn't hate anyone."

When we arrived at the club, I was surprised that Edward still had to show his ID, but the bouncer explained that the evening was for 18-and-over. I blushed a little at the thought that my boyfriend had to prove he was 18. Most of the time Edward's age really didn't bother me, or I tended to forget about it completely.

As soon as we walked inside, the loud pulsing beat assaulted my ears. Edward immediately spotted his brother seated in a booth along one edge of the dance floor. Taking my hand, he led me through the throng of bodies and we slid into the booth across from Jasper.

"Hey man," Edward said as he sat down.

"Hey. Good to see you again, Bella."

I raised my eyebrow in response and Jasper laughed. "It is, really. You make my brother happy," he shrugged.

"Thanks, Jasper," I smiled.

A waitress came by to take Edward's and my drink orders, then left us a small "Reserved" sign so we could get up and dance without losing our seats.

"My friend Alice should be joining us soon," I told Jasper. I'd texted her while we were in the car to let her know that we were on our way. If I knew Alice, she was spending a half hour styling her hair, even though it wasn't even shoulder length.

"How did you like your first semester of teaching, Bella?" Jasper asked. "I don't know if Edward told you, but I have a double major in History and Education, hoping to be a high school history teacher."

"I actually did like it," I answered truthfully. "My heart really belongs with counseling, but I know I can't do that anymore. I'd prefer to teach more upper level classes geared toward counseling, rather than teaching basic Psych classes, but I realize that I need to complete my doctorate before I could be considered for that."

"A doctorate, wow," Jasper replied. "My ambitions aren't as high," he laughed.

My phone buzzed with an incoming text message and I glanced at the screen. "Alice is here," I announced. "I'm just gonna go get her. Be right back." I kissed Edward quickly before leaving.

I greeted Alice just inside the door with a hug. "Nice dress," I said, admiring her strapless hot pink mini-dress. Though I'd never wear it, she could pull it off.

"Thanks," she smiled. "After-Christmas sale."

"Edward and his brother have a booth over there," I said, pointing them out to her. When we reached the table, I introduced Alice to Jasper and she slid into the booth beside him, ordering a Shirley Temple from a passing waitress.

"So, Jasper, Bella tells me you play baseball?"

I rolled my eyes. I'd met Alice on our first day of kindergarten and had never known her to give a flying fuck about _any_ sport. Sure, she'd joined the cheerleading squad in middle school and high school, but that was just to meet cute boys, in her words.

"I do," Jasper answered with a smile. "I play second base on my college team."

"And he has a good chance at getting drafted next year," Edward added.

"Wow, that is so awesome!"

I quirked an eyebrow at her. Wow, Alice was laying it on a little thick. She wasn't actually attracted to Jasper, was she? After all the shit she gave _me_ about dating a younger man? Wait until I got her alone.

Edward and I spent most of the night on the dance floor, stopping by the table occasionally for a few sips of our drinks. Alice and Jasper spent most of that time chatting together in the booth before finally getting up to dance around 11:30.

"I think we might have made a love match," Edward noted, nodding his head toward Alice and Jasper as they danced close together.

"They're cute," I agreed. Even if Alice didn't come up to Jasper's shoulder.

"Not as cute as you."

"Oh please," I laughed. "You know you don't have to butter me up to get laid tonight."

"It's the truth," he insisted. "I probably don't tell you enough how beautiful and sexy you are," he added, kissing along my neck. His soft lips sent tingles through my entire body.

"You're not too bad yourself, Cullen. In fact, your looks were the first thing I noticed about you, at that first group session when Rosalie brought you in."

"Mmmm…" He began sucking on my ear. "It's the first thing I noticed about you, too. I was looking down at the floor and then I saw these sexy-as-fuck legs in front of me."

"You did not!" I slapped at his chest.

"Oh, I did," he replied, looking up to grin at me. "And then when I looked into your big brown eyes… I had to have you." He shrugged. "It was just a physical need, but then I got to know you, and—" He stopped, shaking his head. "You're not offended, are you? That it was just physical at first?"

"No, I'm not offended," I replied truthfully. "It was the same for me, until the real Edward emerged from his shell."

Edward grinned widely, then kissed me until I was ready to rip his clothes off right in the middle of the dance floor. "Can we go home now?" he whined.

"It's not midnight yet," I laughed.

"Then let's go sit down so we can make out." I rolled my eyes, but let him lead me back to our booth. As we kissed, Edward's hands began to wander — he really had a thing about pushing my skirts up to expose my thighs.

"What are you doing?" I asked as those sexy fingers began creeping closer and closer to my panties.

"Nothing," he replied innocently.

"Uh-huh."

Edward kissed me again, and I could feel myself getting more and more turned on. If his finger moved even another inch, he'd surely notice. And then there it was, stroking the outside of my panties.

"Bella," he whispered in my ear, "Are you wet for me?" Before I could reply, he stuck his tongue in my mouth again.

And then I felt his finger sneaking under the elastic band at the edge of my panties. He stroked up and down softly and I nearly cried out.

"Let me make you feel good, Bella," he whispered, adding another finger to the mix.

A part of me was freaking out that anyone who looked under the tabletop would be able to see what he was doing. The horny part of me tried to convince the prudish part that it was dark in the club, and everyone else was too busy making out to be paying attention to us.

The horny part won.

I tried my best to relax while Edward's magic fingers quickly brought me to the edge of an orgasm. He was relentless, thrusting two fingers inside me while his thumb rubbed circles on my clit. When he could surely feel me getting close, he covered my mouth with his own, drowning out my moans.

And as I came, I heard the loud bang of fireworks announcing the arrival of 2014.

"Happy New Year, Bella," Edward whispered, licking his fingers clean.

* * *

**A/N:** This is the last regular chapter. I'll post the Epilogue on Saturday.


	26. Epilogue

**Author's Note: **Thanks to moosals for pre-reading on short notice. Stephenie Meyer owns all characters.

Here is the Epilogue. Enjoy!

* * *

_May, 2017_

"Edward Anthony Cullen."

The whole gang jumped up out of our seats, clapping and whistling as my boyfriend walked across the stage to accept his diploma. After four years, Edward was graduating with his Bachelor of Arts in Architectural Studies.

It turned out that Edward wasn't only a talented musician — he also had quite the knack for drawing. After discussing his options with an advisor, he decided to join the architecture program at U-Dub.

In order to become an architect, he would need an accredited degree, which requires a Master's in Architecture. We made the joint decision to follow his long-time dream and move to the Los Angeles area this summer, where he can obtain his Master's at the University of Southern California.

I completed my doctorate last year and was offered a full-time faculty position at U-Dub. However, I turned down the offer, instead looking for a position in California so that I could move with Edward.

Instead of teaching at the same university that my boyfriend attends for another two years, I will be starting a new job in the Fall at UCLA — total rival school to USC. That should make for some fun times.

After the ceremony, Edward looked out over the audience, trying to find where I was seated with his family. It took some time, but his parents had finally accepted that I was good for him, though I still wasn't their favorite person. And when I took Edward home to meet _my_ parents for the first time, they just loved him. I never did tell them exactly how we met, though.

"Hey," he called with a smile, picking me up and spinning me around. When he finally put me down, he kissed me until I was breathless.

"Aw, man, I still hate to see my baby brother doing that," Emmett whined and I couldn't help but laugh. Emmett always made me laugh. After getting his Master's in Physical Therapy a year ago, he had gotten a job with the Seattle Seahawks and moved back to Washington. He and Rosalie had gotten married around the same time and were expecting their first child in a few months.

Jasper was the first to hug Edward once he'd finally let me go. He was truly the best big brother Edward could've asked for, though their relationship remained long distance — for now.

Jasper and Alice began dating shortly after we'd introduced them and were still together, three and a half years later. Two years ago, Jasper was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers. He'd started his career at their minor league affiliate in Michigan, and Alice then moved to the Midwest with him. Jasper was currently playing for their AAA team in Albuquerque, but we were hopeful that he'd get called up to the Majors in September. The fact that he and Alice could also be in LA one day contributed to our decision to move there.

Once everyone had hugged Edward, our group left for the Cullens' home, where they were having a small graduation party for him. As was typical, there was alcohol served at the party, but it didn't seem to bother Edward at all. He was nearly four years sober now, having never slipped up and taken a drink. He'd come close once, he admitted, when he attended a college party without me and another student just handed him a beer. He'd told me later that he held onto it for a half hour without drinking it before discreetly leaving it on a table.

I was so, so proud of him. When we met, and even when we started dating, Edward still had a healthy dose of "bratty teenager" in him. He had slowly grown up though, getting serious about more than the next time he could get me in bed.

Well, he still loved to do that, too. Edward had quite the sexual appetite — not that I would ever complain. He'd filled out some and I was proud to have the hottest boyfriend alive.

After the buffet lunch, Edward led me out back by the pool, away from the rest of the party. He seemed nervous, and I looked at him questioningly.

"Yeah, so," he began, "I know you already agreed to move to California with me and get a place together." He paused and I nodded, curious about where he was going with this. "I've been wanting to do this for a while, but I didn't think you'd be receptive. But I'm out of patience, so I'm gonna ask you now."

Edward knelt down on one knee, taking my hand, and I gasped. Suddenly, I had a pretty good idea where he was going with this.

"Bella, when I met you, I was pretty much a cocky asshole. But you saw through that ugly person I showed to the world, and found the real me buried inside. I owe my life to you. You lost everything because of me, and I will never ever forget that, or stop trying to make it up to you. These past four years have been the best of my life.

"Isabella Marie Swan, will you do me the honor of agreeing to become my wife?"

By then, tears were streaming down my face. I nodded slowly, brushing my tears away. "Yes."

* * *

**A/N:** That's all, folks! Thank you for reading. :)

I know no one but me can verify this, but in my Word doc, if I don't count the chapter titles and headers, the story finished at exactly 25,000 words. This math nerd thinks that's cool.


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